VIJAYAWADA: In order to put a stop on incidents of death during transit to hospitals, officials of the health department are going to issue instructions to all private ambulances in the State to carry oxygen cylinders soon.
While the State government is revamping all the ambulance services - both 108 and 104, the officials are now thinking of bringing in strict guidelines for operating the private ambulances as well.
Usually, private ambulances are of two types, one that is run by private hospitals for emergency cases and the other run by agencies that offer ambulance services on call. The expert committee constituted by the State identified that a majority of the private ambulances operated by agencies lack the basic fitness and life-saving equipment. Cases of death of patients during transit in these private ambulances are also high. Although the district authorities should have kept a tab on these ambulances, officials concerned lack records of these as well as their certifications.
Hence, the officials are planning to make oxygen cylinders and defibrillators mandatory in the ambulances, as these two play important role in saving the lives of cardiac patients, pregnant women and those accident victims, who would struggle to breathe.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior official of the health department said, “There needs to be a regulatory authority on the private ambulance services too. As we are bringing the government services on track, the private services should also be regulated for better results. Soon this will be implemented.”
At present, private ambulances, especially those in the rural areas, do not have oxygen supply. Also, officials are likely to fix the price charged in the private ambulances, as there have been complaints that a majority of these charges not less than Rs 1,000 for small distances.
In Vijayawada city, a private ambulance service was charging almost `700 for basic transportation and for oxygen support they charge an extra `300; for ventilator service, the total cost becomes `3,000. If the patients are from rural regions and have to reach the GGH in the city, the prices go up to somewhere in the range of `5,000 to `8,000.