THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ambulances are considered to be life-savers where even seconds count. Sirens blaring and lights flickering, they rush through traffic at insane speeds to save a life, but at times lead to fatal outcomes.
According to the State Crime Records Bureau, 29 people died in accidents involving ambulances in 2023 in Kerala. The death toll saw an increase from the previous year from 23 to 29 even as the number of accidents dipped from 169 to 150.
In the 150 accidents last year, 117 people sustained grave injuries while 63 suffered minor injuries, the data revealed.
Speeding, as ambulances are generally exempted from traffic rules in emergency situations, and social media reel craze among young drivers are the major reasons for most of the accidents, said healthcare professionals.
The state has 9,964 ambulances registered with the motor vehicles department (MVD), including 476 under the directorate of health services. But, according to the Kerala Ambulance Drivers and Technicians Association (KADTA), only around 5,000 are operational.
Since 2018, there have been 820 accidents involving ambulances, in which 161 people lost their lives and 974 sustained injuries.
“It is a misconception that all patients should be taken to the hospital at a high speed,” says Dr Sunil Kumar, superintendent of the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. “In our experience, only 25% of the total people taken on ambulances require critical care. In most cases, ambulance drivers are unnecessarily speeding,” he told TNIE.
“Another worrying trend is alcoholism among the drivers. Being an emergency service, police will not stop a running ambulance and subject the driver to alcohol test. Apparently, some drivers are misusing this privilege,” he said.
KADTA treasurer Muhammed Jaleel said lack of proper training, especially for newcomers, is another major reason for the accidents. “At least 70% of the accidents happen due to rash and reckless driving,” he said.
MVD urged to conduct training for new drivers
“A section of drivers, especially beginners, has a craze to ride the vehicle fast. In most of the cases, a maximum of 60 km per hour speed will be sufficient on our roads as fellow motorists always oblige and make way for ambulances. Those who drive at 80 or 90 km per hour will have to apply breaks frequently. In both cases, the travel time will be almost the same,” Muhammed Jaleel said.
A driver with two decades of experience, Jaleel said the social media reel craze of young drivers is extremely risky and unacceptable. “This is a life-saver’s job and filming it for self publicity is shameful,” he said, adding that the MVD should conduct training programmes for new drivers.