MALKANGIRI: For 40 villages in Malkangiri’s Swabhiman Anchal, emergency medical support would now be made available through the waterways which happen to be their sole mode of access to the mainland.
On Friday, Collector Yedulla Vijay launched 108 boat ambulance service at Slipway launch ghat in Chitrakonda here. Two boat ambulances have been deployed to respond to medical emergency faced by inhabitants of the erstwhile cut-off region. Each ambulance will have crew members, including a captain and an emergency medical technician. This service will be available 24X7.
It would benefit around 20,000 people residing in 40 villages across the region which was once considered a Red corridor. The on-board crew will remain in touch with people and local health staff to respond to emergencies. The boats have been provided under National Ambulance Service, a joint initiative of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Odisha government.
Even after opening of the Guruprasad bridge, around 40 villages in Swabhiman Anchal are yet to be connected by road, thereby causing difficulties for the administration to make health services available there. However, with the launching of 108 ambulance service, people residing in these villages can now avail the health services at their doorsteps.
In emergency cases, the boats will ferry patients to the mainland from where another ambulance will take them to the hospital.As many as 37 floating jetties have been made available for these two boat ambulances which are equipped with ultra-modern equipment.