SHILLONG, May 1: At a time when the state is witnessing an exponential surge in COVID-19 cases, the EMRI 108 ambulance service is running only three vehicles in the city to provide transportation to patients in need or urgent medical attention.
Besides the three ambulances in the city, there are 2-3 ambulances deployed on the outskirts of the city which could be diverted for attending to emergencies in Shillong. However, in case of a surge in COVID-19 cases as seen in other states the EMRI may not be able to cover the entire population of the capital, GVK EMRI state head Deepankar Choudhary feared.
“As far as the current scenario goes we are okay but if the situation worsens, like in Delhi, we will face a shortage because we have only 43 ambulances catering to the entire state,” he said.
“Out of 43, 50 per cent are a year old while the rest are more than 7-8 years old and there is a perennial question of breakdown and maintenance in addition to distance as sometimes we have to shift patients from as far as Umling to Shillong,” he added.
On the situation in East Khasi Hills, Choudhary said, “We are managing Shillong city with three ambulances plus another two–three ambulances which are in the periphery”.
Aserting that the emergency service was doing its best in the state, he said, “We have provided service to over 5000 patients since the pandemic broke out”.
Elaborating, he said, “In 2020, we shifted 518 positive cases to hospitals. This time we are witnessing a spike of 76 per cent which means that we have shifted 76 per cent more patients in April 2121 as compared to the same period last year”.
“Last month we shifted 377 positive patients to either hospitals or health care centres,” he added.
Talking about the ambulances that were procured under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, Choudhary said, “Last year, 25 ambulances were procured through us. Out of these 23 came under 108 operations as some old ambulances were replaced”.
He asserted that all the 43 ambulance currently operating in the state were equipped with medical oxygen and basic life support.
On complaints of delay in services, he said it was natural that people get restless if there is delay in the service, and added, “We have to take into consideration a lot of things. For example, when a Covid case is assigned to us, we cannot take chances. Our staff have to wear PPEs and adhere to all safety protocols and we don’t want to take chances because we are frontline workers”.
“After ferrying a Covid patient the ambulance has to be thoroughly sanitisation which takes about 45 minutes and the team also has to get ready with fresh PPE,” he added.