HYDERABAD: Imagine you have a family member that has a medical emergency and needs immediate attention. You would perhaps call 108. But what happens when nobody answers, or when they do answer but say that they cannot send an ambulance.
This is a nightmare that many, are going through on a daily basis. With the 108 ambulance services employees firm on their intention to continue their strike, demanding better fewer-hour shifts, it seems more people will have to go through such ordeals.
It may be recalled that, on August 11, members of the Telangana State 108 Employee Union has announced that they would be going on strike to demand the reduction in daily working hours from 12 to 8 hours. This includes drivers, emergency medical technicians (EMT). Later, call centre employees too joined the strike. Some employees began working only eight hours a day, leaving their positions unmanned for the rest of the four hours.
With no mood to relent to the employees’ demand, the services’ management GVK-EMRI began firing employees who were boycotting duties. As many as 811 employees in the State have been fired till now. P Ashok, president of the union, earlier demanded that the State’s health department take over the ambulance service.
Meanwhile, the chief operating officer of GVK-EMRI P Brahmananda Rao said that the strike did not pose danger to the lives of people, however, he added that it could not be ascertained if the unattended cases were critical in nature.
No EMTs in ambulances
An ambulance is important for two main reasons - one, its ability to transport a patient to a hospital quickly, and two, the ability of EMTs to perform first aid on location. However, on the sidelines of a press conference held on Saturday afternoon in the city, Rao said that around 60 to 70 ambulances were being operated without EMTs. Rao had earlier said how drivers of the ambulances were being instructed to pick up patients and drop them at a close by hospital.
‘We warned them’
“Prior to the protest, we wanted to know how many people were interested in eight-hours shift so that we could plan 8-hour and 12-hour shifts. But no one responded. Before the strike, we had warned employees that they would be terminated if they stopped working after logging-in eight hours a day. Anticipating the crisis, we had 180 pilots and 180 EMTs on reserve, and we recruited 145 each of pilots and EMTs,” said Rao.
Some of the terminated employees have requested the management to take them back into service. In a meeting, officials in GVK-EMRI decided to allow people to rejoin only if they agreed to work for the full duration of their shift without conditions. To agree to these terms, they have been asked to submit representation before 8 PM on August 19. “Till now, 12 employees have rejoined. By Monday evening, we will process final settlement - provident fund and retirement benefits, to all those who do not join by then,” Rao said.
Adilabad
People in interior Adilabad most affected
On August 16, a pregnant woman E Sujatha,a native of Girivelli, developed labour pains and crossed a temporary bridge in Dahegaon with the help of the villagers and the police as the 108 ambulance did not reach them. The Tahsildar who monitored the situationn shifted the woman to a Primary Health Centre in his vehicle. In another case, when Md Rasheed from Jainath mandal headquarters called the 108 service seeking help for his family members he was told that EMTs were not available to take care of patients in the ambulance. In the erstwhile Adilabad district, 180 employees on strike.
Peddapalli
Transporting viral fever and dengue patients becomes a challenge
Ambulance services have come to a stand still in the past five days. Reports say that many people who call 108 are either put on hold or asked to call again later. Since there is a spurt in the number of viral fevers and dengue cases, shifting patients from villages to the district headquarters has become challenging. From August 14, nearly 40 members of the service staff have been participating in a hunger strike. With the lack of a service, the public is left with no other option but to opt for private vehicles. It is reported that employees in Karimnagar district have chosen to stay away from the protest.
Khammam
Khammam, Kothagudem hit by strike
Emergency services have been hit in both Khammam and Bhadradri Kothagudem districts since August 11. There are 13 ambulances each in Khammam and Bhadradri Kothagudem district, managed by 63 staff members in each district. Of them, 33 employees in Khammam, and 16 in Bhadradri Kothagudem are on strike. It is reported that recently, after an accident in Julurpad mandal headquarters, victims could not be taken to hospital since no ambulances, or technical staff, were available.
Sangareddy
Private vehicles strike gold while 108 goes practically offline
Denizens complaint that private ambulances owners were fleecing people in the absence of government services. They alleged that to take patients from Sangareddy to Hyderabad, private ambulances were charging anything between Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000, and this amount has been hiked by nearly Rs 5,000 or more in some cases. Mahender, from Sangareddy said that private ambulance owners were charging the full amount even if they returned from midway. Though temporary drivers were appointed, they were generally not clear as to which hospital patients were supposed to be taken to. Telangana 108 Service Union secretary P Anjaiah said that they gave given many representations to officials.
Mahbubnagar
Replacements to be hired soon
Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda and Khammam have been equally affected by the strike. There are around 33 ambulances in the undivided Mahbubnagar district. Out of a total of 147 EMTs, 120 are on strike. “To overcome the issue, we interviewed 30 people and trained them as EMTs. Besides them, second-ANMs too are supporting the service,” said Nazir, service in-charge in Mahbubnagar.