GUWAHATI: The GVK-EMRI 108 Mrityunjoy Emergency Response service team here has identified “high accident” prone areas along the Assam-Meghalaya border in Kamrup Metro district as well as in Kamrup (Rural) district for special placement of ambulances in the run up to the New Year.
The move is a part of the overall preparedness of the service in the two districts of Assam, which have recorded the highest number of emergency cases during New Year celebrations in the previous years.
“The National Highway strip has been earmarked as a high accident-prone zone. We have identified the vulnerable areas and are accordingly placing during New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day two ambulances each at Sonapur, Khetri, Amingaon, Changsari, Baihata Charali and Hajo and one each at Jorabat, Gorchuk, Basistha, Jalukbari and Rangia. These areas had recorded the maximum road traffic accidents last year,” Kaushik Saikia, regional manager, GVK-EMRI, told reporters here on Saturday.
Seventy ambulances are currently on duty in the two districts out of 796 across Assam.
“Dynamic placement of ambulances has been planned to reach faster and act as a backup for the nearest two locations. Besides, the emergency medical technician (in the ambulance) will inform the caller about the obstacles faced, such as traffic jam, in reaching the site. A team from emergency response centre will update the caller regarding the movement of the vehicle,” Saikia said.
Keeping in mind the projected call flow during the two days, GVK-EMRI is also synchronizing its staff across four shifts in the call centre here instead of the three shifts on normal days. The call centre is manned by 56 people with 13 for each shift. Thirty calls can be taken at a time.
“We have also asked our staff to report at least half an hour before time so that there is no interruption in responding to emergency calls to the centre where the facilities have been upgraded. Associates are being trained to cope up with increased call flow and corresponding coordination with operations team,” the official said.
As it is, the call centre has received a good number of calls from picnic spots.
“Ambulances nearest to popular picnic spots have already been identified and informed to pilots as a part of preparedness. Police officials and hospital authorities have already been kept informed about the various support functions required by the 108 ambulance
Saikia further informed that based on the previous year’s figures, the total emergency calls are predicted to be around 1700 and 2000 during December 31, 2018 and January 1, 2019.
The centre receives an average of 1412 emergency calls a day.
“Based on the cases last year, we apprehend road traffic accidents (majority of them involving two-wheelers) may rise to 150 cases per day in Assam on December 31, 2018 and January 1, 2019, which is a steep rise from the current average of 70 road traffic accidents on a given day. Assault cases might rise to 40 cases per day in the state with 20 to 40 per cent increase from the current normal occurrence of 20 per day,” he said.
From April 2018 to November 2018, the GVK-EMRI response team has handled 33,071 cases in Kamrup Metro and Kamrup Rural districts for the 108 ambulance service and 9,060 cases for the 102 ambulance service.
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