TURA: In a typical case of bureaucratic reaction, a 108 ambulance stationed on duty in North Garo Hills allegedly failed to respond to the scene of an accident over ‘protocol’ issues early Saturday morning.
One of the buses engaged to bring back citizens of Garo Hills who arrived in Guwahati railway station from Chennai met with an accident near Dudhnoi town in Goalpara district of Assam during the early morning hours.
Four returnees along with the driver and handyman of the bus sustained injuries in the mishap and a call was passed on to the 108 ambulance stationed at entry check gate in Berubari, North Garo Hills to head to the accident site and ferry the injured.
However, the first responders failed to act due to protocol issues as the SOS call needed to be first routed to the 108 helpline which in turn would direct them to the site.
It was ultimately left to an ambulance from Dudhnoi town to bring the injured all the way to Tura for medical attention raising questions on the need to do away with such ‘protocols’ in times of emergency.
On the same morning, another bus ferrying a similar number of returnees to Garo Hills skidded off the wet road at Aguragre village of Rongram. There were no injuries.