Dedicated number launched for Covid ambulance service

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada (DK) district administration has formulated an ambulance management plan that will facilitate expeditious shifting of patients to either the Covid care centre (CCC) or 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 will utilise the various ambulances at the disposal of the district administration, for this purpose.
People in need of ambulances at present dial either 108 or 1077. They can henceforth call 0824-2441444, the dedicated number instead. The administration has at its disposal 10 out of 28 ‘108’ ambulances stationed in DK for Covid duties, and 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 ambulances is on.
The 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, said M J Roopa, additional deputy commissioner. 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 Covid patients for medical care. 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 Covid-19 patient.
The command control centre will coordinate with nodal officers in charge of quarantine centres, hospitals, Covid care centres and even home isolation units.