42 more 108 ambulances to be introduced

SHILLONG: Health and Family Welfare Minister AL Hek said there is a proposal to expand the fleet size of 108 Emergency ambulance service to 90.
Hek was replying to a query raised by Mawphlang MLA SK Sunn on the last day of the autumn session.
In his reply, the minister said the government in partnership with GVK EMRI, the implementing agency, launched the pan State Emergency Response Service (ERS)/Dial 108 on February 2, 2009. “In 2009, the fleet size of 15 ambulances was under PPP mode. The service was initially introduced in two districts (East Khasi Hills and West Khasi Hills) and over the course of 2009, the service was extended to all the seven districts of the state. At present, there is a fleet of 48 ambulances in the entire state,” he said.
Hek said that the services offered are emergency care and to render quality pre-hospital care and transport of patient to appropriate health care facilities, 42 more ambulances would be added to the existing fleet.