BHUBANESWAR : The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has installed GPS tracking system in 40 ambulances for better monitoring and management of emergency medical transport service in the city. It will ensure quicker transfer of patients to the dedicated Covid hospitals (DCHs) and Covid care centres (CCCs).
BMC officials said the installation of GPS device will help authorities track movement of ambulances and estimate the time to shift the patient. Of the 64 ambulances under the Covid management programme, 40 vehicles have been GPS enabled and the rest will be fitted with the tracking devices very soon, they said.
Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd (BSCL) is looking after the technological upgradation of ambulances engaged for Covid management. The emergency service is being regulated through a central ambulance control room set up at Capital Hospital. While the hospital directly manages 34 ambulances, the three administrative zones of BMC have three ambulances each for shifting of patients to hospitals.
The civic body will provide seven additional ambulances for each zone for better management of the service. A senior officer, one ASO and one DEO have been attached to each zone to coordinate the ambulance availability at zonal level. An OAS officer has also been given the charge of managing the ambulance control room.