108 ambulance control room provides 24-hour service

KOCHI: The 108 ambulance control room functioning in the Tejaswini building at Technopark is doing an exemplary service with its operations round the clock during the pandemic. As many as 12,531 suspected Covid-19 patients from across the state have been transported through its free ambulance service network named ‘Kanivu 108’. So far, ‘Kanivu 108’ ambulance service has handled about 2,097 suspected Covid-19 cases in Thiruvananthapuram, 715 cases in Kochi and 933 cases in Kozhikode.

Launched in September 2019 as part of the comprehensive trauma care and management system, the employees from various districts of the state, including women, work 24 hours a day in the control room and back office. ‘Kanivu 108’ replaced the decade-old 108 ambulance network that was just confined to the Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts.

Although the 108 ambulance control room at Technopark has been operating round the clock, it now helps in transporting suspected Covid-19 cases. “There are more than 1,400 employees from across the state working in this ambulance network which includes nurses (625), drivers (625), call centre staff (100) and support staff (50). Since the outbreak, the team has been attending to emergency calls through its call centre and providing help to the people,” said Saravanan A, state head of operations.

When a call is received at the 112 helpline number, it is immediately transferred to the control room of the 108 ambulance service. The details of the caller and the location are also transferred to the 108 call centre so that they can immediately connect to the ambulance nearby. Those who contact the call centre for the ambulance can also talk to the medical technician via conference call.

All the 108 ambulances have been equipped with GPS which enables the control room to locate them in the shortest possible time. Around 316 free ambulance services are present in all districts–there are 29 in Thiruvananthapuram, 32 in Kochi and 31 in Kozhikode.