Goa has 8 ambulances to ferry COVID patients

NT NETWORK

Panaji

Eight special ambulances are currently designated to ferry the potential COVID patients and COVID positive patients to the Margao-based COVID hospital and the COVID care centres across the state.

These eight ambulances have been placed at strategic locations which include five in South Goa and three in North Goa.

These ambulances are ‘not sufficient’ to meet the requirements, as Goa is witnessing a surge in COVID positive cases.

Health secretary Nila Mohanan had recently admitted that the state is facing an ambulance crunch which is impacting on attending to COVID-19 patients, as on an average, around 50-70 cases are detected every day in the state.

Reacting to this admission by the health secretary, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Sunday took to Twitter where he posted that the file pertaining to the addition of seven more ambulances will be moved to the government for its approval.

GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute, which is

running the 108 ambulance services in the state, has claimed that these dedicated ambulances have handled around 2,749 cases that includes transferring of suspects and positive COVID patients from their homes to quarantine facilities and to the COVID hospital.

The GVK EMRI has said that their staff is provided with personal protective equipment and other safety gear for the pilot and the EMTs.

“These eight special ambulances cater only to COVID-19 cases and not other emergency cases. After every such person is dropped at the hospital, the particular ambulance is completely disinfected before attending to the next case,” said an official of GVK EMRI.

Lauding the dedication of its staff, the GVK EMRI the official said, “Our staffers are indeed the unsung heroes, as they respond even at odd hours and work for long hours. Since March 6, the 108 dedicated ambulances have been rendering yeomen service.”