KOLKATA: Unregulated use of
ambulance was turning out to be a criminal waste of a key health resource, pointed out experts. They were referring to the incident in which an ambulance driven by an underage driver met with an accident while being used for a non-medical purpose on Sunday. It proved that more than a month after an AC mechanic was caught posing as a doctor in an ambulance ferrying a patient to a city hospital, the vehicles continued to be abused, they said.
“There is a scarcity of ambulances in Kolkata which makes it necessary to ensure that they are put to an optimum and judicious use. Unfortunately, this is yet to be done, though, I believe a number of measures have been announced. First, it is important to make sure that all ambulances are run only by trained personnel and this should include the drivers. Like the presence of paramedics, trained drivers, too, should be made compulsory. They should be trained specifically on the rules of driving an ambulance. But the entire ambulance business is run like an unregulated sector with neighbourhood clubs ruling the trade. It goes without saying that they flout all rules,” said
Rupak Barua, CEO of AMRI Hospitals.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) consultant
Arindam Biswas agreed. “It’s appalling that ambulances are often put to multiple use even in Kolkata. Once a vehicle is registered as an ambulance it should only be used for ferrying patients. We probably don’t even have a system of registering ambulances. So long as ambulances are left to untrained people, they will continue to be abused. It is dangerous that now they are even employing underage drivers,” said Biswas.
