Karnataka: Dakshina Kannada district administration unveils ambulance management plan

MANGALURU: Dakshina Kannada district administration has formulated an ambulance management plan that will facilitate expeditious shifting of patients to either the Covid care centre (CCC) or district Wenlock Hospital, the designated Covid-19 hospital. A common number with a minimum 10 hunting line facility will form the crux of this plan that in turn will utilise the various ambulances at the disposal of the administration for this purpose.
People in need of ambulances at present dial either 108/1077. They can henceforth call 0824-2441444, the dedicated number instead. The administration has at its disposal 10 out of 28 ‘108’ ambulance stationed in DK for Covid duties, around an equal number from other health department schemes such as ‘Nagu Magu’. While ‘108’ ambulances are already fitted with GPS and centrally monitored, work on fitting GPS to the health department ambulance is on.
Process to acquire additional ambulances through the state disaster relief fund at the disposal of the deputy commissioner is on and these will be pressed into service shortly, M J Roopa, additional deputy commissioner, told TOI. Sponsors have come forth to aid purchase of two out of 5 new ambulances with basic life support systems, she said. Efforts are also on to source spare ambulances under a pooling system from other parts of the state too, she said.
“We are also mulling to pool Maruti Omni Eeco ambulances after the RTO certifies these vehicles as road worthy,” she said. Even these will be GPS fitted and used mainly to shift positive patients. Going forward all the ambulances will be linked to the command control centre of Mangaluru Smart City from where they will be monitored, and the nearest available ambulance dispatched with the medical team to the doorsteps of a Covid19 patient.
The command control centre will coordinate with nodal officers in charge of quarantine centres, hospitals, Covid care centres and even home isolation units. The ambulance management plan should be streamlined in time the current lockdown phase ends and its integration with the Smart City control centre will be achieved shortly thereafter, she said. Idea is to have at least 30-35 ambulances that can be used exclusively for Covid duties, she added.