HC advocates simple solution for managing ambulances in traffic

The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday asked the State government to consider introducing a simple system of giving clearance to ambulances in traffic on receiving intimation from the driver, till a proposed modern-tech based ambulance management system is put in place.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Nataraj Rangaswamy, issued the direction while hearing a PIL petition filed by Bharat Punarothana Trust, Bengaluru. As the government stated that a proposal is being prepared by the Health Department to implement a tech-based ambulance management system in a phased manner, after getting approval from the Finance Department, the Bench said that a simple system should be in place as the proposed project will take time for implementation as it has not yet reached the tender stage.

The Chief Justice pointed out that a staff member of the High Court suffered a heart attack on June 24, and with the system in place with the High Court’s dispensary and registrars, the patient was immediately shifted to hospital and an angioplasty done successfully within an hour.

“We don’t know whether it would have been possible to provide emergency medical service at the earliest if the staff would have been at home,” the Chief Justice said, emphasising the need to have a system to ensure that ambulances reach the patients and transport them to hospital as quickly as possible. The hearing was adjourned further with the court asking the government to come out with a solution as indicated.