Meeting Notes (EMRI - 108 - Ambulance Services)

Today morning, I saw an ambulance stuck in traffic as the signal (approx 100m) ahead was red and the vehicles ahead were not moving. This was at Arakere juntion on BG Road. The ambulance was coming from Bannerghatta side towards IIMB side (probably going to Fortis or Apollo hosp). The only significant traffic at the junction (it was non-peak hour) was from the Bannerghatta side.

My thought was if there is a system for ambulances to request (using GPS tech) green signals in its route to the central traffic control room, ambulances can save time. Possible?

Thanks Ravi & guys for sharing your notes. Sorry for missing out myself, due to an unplanned change in travel plans.

Had some questions if you talked about these as well:

• What is the structure of this PPP? what returns do the investors, including government expect, and how do tey measure them (since it will surely not be only money).
• Are there other areas where this successful PPP model can be replicated?

thanks again.

Pranav aka SB.

They have taken very strong exception to vasanth’s blog claiming pizza comes before an ambulance. 

We both were surprised when we were lead into a board room where few of the concerned leads/head were waiting for us with a presentation ready. Thats how serious, dedicated they are about their work.

Will put in more details about the meet in some time.

Regarding Amublance getting stuck in traffic signals,

All the EMRI - 108 ambulances are stationed either near a Police Station or near a Health Care facility.  When ever an ambulance leaves for an emergency the near by police station relays the information to traffic units so that traffic can be cleared. 

We were told by the EMRI officials that the response from the Traffic department.

As of now they are not equipped with GPS but thats in the pipeline and also a plan to integrate with the TMC. 

The mention of Pizza etc made me think it was some trivial talk, and I didn't pay attention to the discussions. Now, on learning what it was all about, let me recount here my happy experience with EMRI-108.

It was some 4 months back. Along-with four of my buddies, I was playing golf at Clover Greens, beyond Sarjapur. We were at about the 5th hole at around 7.30 in the morning, on a week-day (the green fee is half on a week day), when one of our foursome, mis-hit a ball from close to a plant, which then ricochetted of the plant stub, and hit him very close to an eye. He fell there cupping his eye, blood covering his hands, alongside the shattered frame and glasses. As it eventually turned out, the glass-frame took most of the impact, because of which the direct damage to the eye wasn't too severe, apart from the fact of the timely medical help we could reach him, thanks to EMRI.

Immediately the mishap occured, we gathered together, called up a doctor friend, empanelled with Manipal hospital, who, in turn, advised us to contact EMRI. The response was almost immediate, and we were informed that the ambulance stationed close to the Sarjapur police station was being alerted, and to expect a call from the ambulance staff. Not quite sure about how good their services were, we anyway drove the patient in one of our cars, and headed towards Manipal hospital. Immediately thereafter, a nurse on the ambulance got in touch with me on my mobile, and after getting our location, asked to wait by the roadside, as they were just about 1 km behind us, and catching up. Meanwhile, she collected all details like the patient's blood group, medical history, besides giving a few tips on what to do and what not to do with the patient - all very professionally. Within minutes of our halting, the ambulance caught up wiith us, and the staff, again very professionally, transferred the patient onto the ambulance. I rode the ambulance along-with the patient, and the care the nurse was imparting was indeed impressive. She cleaned the wound, and after talking to the doctor on phone, took instructions on what needed to be done, and went about them systematically.

By then, we were passing through the morning peak-hour traffic, and the ambulance driver very skillfully navigated his way towards Manipal hospital. The traffic police, obviously alerted in advance, waved us on through the on-coming traffic (wherever there were jams), and we reached the hospital in record time, which would not have been possible if we had relied on our cars.

On reaching the hospital, the ambulance staff handed over charge of the patient to the hospital staff, got some info filled out on some form, collected requisite signatures, and said good-bye to me, after wishing the patient a speedy recovery. When I pulled out my wallet in a gesture to settle their bill, I was surprised to learn that it was all free, and that they wouldn't accept any payment. I however insisted that they have a good meal on our account and gave a Rs 500 note, which the nurse very relutantly accepted.

All in all, thanks to EMRI's timely help, the damage to my friend's eye was limited, and he is back to playing golf, though not taking unnecessary chances now.

I had meant to blog about this immediately after the incident itself, but, for various reasons, it escaped my mind. But, such good work certainly needs to be appreciated, even if I am guilty of not having done it on time.



 

I think we should really appreciate the service they are rendering and thank corporates like GVK for supporting this service.

I do not share the thoughts of EMRI folks that the Pizza comment was unwarranted when they havent made adequate efforts to educate people on what are the prerequisites/questions that will be asked. Especially considering they are doing the right thing unlike the rest.

Even I would have agreed, not having seen all this information, that they are on par with glorified omni's that pass of for an ambulance. The pizza comment could be called unfair only in hindsight & when SLA's are known by people and the expectation is that its not just a cab which will come when you call.

Posting and sharing information with Praja is one such effort. If they are hesitant about sharing information they should be willing to live with the kind of feelings that people will express, especially considering that they are going thru a harrowing time during the golden hour.

Conducting programs and setting new standards for ambulance services in conjunction with govt is another effort which they cannot shy away from. They cant rest on their laurels of being good, and have to help push implementation of the standards across the other ambulance services in Bangalore. We are there as people to help them in garnering support if they ask.

Anyway, as santosharjun suggests time for EVP has come to reduce the SLA's from 15 minutes for the urban area. 

Ravi,

Great effort. I think I missed out by not attending the meet & understanding their (EMRI's) position. At least now, through these efforts, people who note your (& Mr Murali's) post will get details & information about how the system functions, given the adverse city conditions.

 In the meanwhile the friend accompanying the patient started getting restless and he decided not to wait for the ambulance and take an auto instead.

Dont know if folks at 108 can keep the affected party engaged and help administer first aid over phone, including how to handle the patient till the ambulance arrives. Do they have medical practitioners who can keep checking on the patient frequently till the ambulance arrives? GPS & EVP are essential if this needs to scale to a really good service fromt eh good service it already is. I am sure they arent resting on the laurels and can redefine the golden hour support in this country. 

 I see the TV advertisements by BJP that 108 is a gift of BJP Government raising the collar. Instead of such collar raising advertisements, if they could educate the public on how the service should be used, it would be great. 

I have been invited to their office. I will try to meet them up and express my views. Unfortunately, my ankle got twisted  on the death day of my Grandmother while I was walking on the foot path  where a stone was loosely laid, resulting in hairline fracture of my left feet. This has made me immobile for 5-6 weeks.

Vasanth - pls accept my condolences. I'm in mourning too since my aunt just passed away.

Srivatsava,

Surely there is a need for good How-To articles about civic issues. While there is no dedicated feature for that purpose yet on Praja, one way to do that would be to use the Gyan feature.

Just create a Gyan page for each topic (use a tag like 'How-To') and once there is a sizable number of articles, it is trivial to compile them in one place and highlight them.