Residents ferry patients, bodies in private vehicles as ambulances go off roads

Covid-19 patients and relatives of Covid-19 victims are staring at a major crisis as around 250 private ambulances went off the roads, in a protest against the administration’s decision to cap ambulance charges

Covid-19 patients and relatives of Covid-19 victims are staring at a major crisis as around 250 private ambulances went off the roads, in a protest against the administration’s decision to cap ambulance charges. Residents were left to fend for themselves, with many ferrying infected patients and bodies of victims in private vehicles, even as doctors warned that this could lead to a further spike in Covid-19 infections.

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Members of the Private Ambulance Association (PAA), which represents 39 operators, on Wednesday met senior officials in Chandigarh and were assured that the charges would be revised within two days. The association members said they will continue to strike if the demands not met.

Rajesh Yadav, president of PAA, Gurugram, said that they will only call off the strike when the prices are revised by the transport department. “A meeting was held with the transport department in Chandigarh, but the decision is pending. The notification is of 2009, when petrol cost ₹40 per litre. At present, fuel costs ₹80 per litre, so they will have to revise the fares,” he said.

Prashant Singh, the mission director of National Health Mission issued an order on Wednesday, directing that a uniform policy for hiring of private ambulance be adopted. He directed deputy commissioners to hold a meeting with the operators and decide rates. “It is decided by higher authorities that rates decided by the deputy commissioners will prevail,” he said.

At present, there are only 55 ambulances in total in the district, 35 of which are run by the municipal corporation and 20 by private hospitals.

Ashish Singla, chief medical officer (CMO), MCG, said that they are transporting bodies to crematoriums free of charge. “These ambulances are working round-the-clock and are enough for the city. We have not faced any issues until now and are responding to all calls. The only challenge is that it takes one hour to respond to a call as the ambulances on back-to-back duties,” he said.

Doctors warned that residents transporting Covid-infected patients and bodies of the victims could have serious consequences. They said that if the current situation persisted, the number of Covid-19 cases will increase manifold, as private vehicles do not have emergency and safety facilities for carrying a patient without coming into contact.

Dr Neeraj Thakur, director, Ayushman Hospital, said that the chance of infections increasing is high due to increased contact with Covid-19 patients. “There are no ambulances available since Monday and we are struggling to find any. Taking a patient on their own can risk their lives, as they are not medically trained and cannot handle a patient in case of an emergency,” she said.

Dr Vikram Singh, director of Aarvy Hospital, said that two patients died due to the non-availability of ambulances on Tuesday. “There are majorly two issues due to the ambulance strike. First, critical patients are not getting timely help as ambulances have big oxygen cylinders and operators know how to use them as they are well trained. Second, it is risky for the family members also to ferry patients. Two patients were brought dead as families could not transport them to the hospital on time,” he said.

More than 100 families shifted their patients and bodies of victims in the last two days, and were facing a tough time managing them.

Sumit Agarwal, a resident of Sector 56, said that he had to shift his brother to a private hospital after his vital signs dipped, but despite trying for two hours, he couldn’t find any. “I drove him to the hospital along with my 10-year-old as it was difficult to manage it by myself. Even the hospitals had no ambulance available and most of the numbers shared by people on groups and social media were switched off,” he said.

A resident of Sector 10A said that he lost his father to Covid-19 and could not find an ambulance to transport his body to the crematorium. “We waited for more than six hours and contacted more than 15 drivers but they refused and said there is a strike of ambulances. I took my father’s body to the crematorium and arranged for a stretcher too. Later, I was told by the staff that the MCG is providing ambulances,” he said.

Ambulance operators said that they asked the drivers to switch off their phones as they were getting continuous calls for help.

Sandeep Sharma, the in-charge of Mokshdham cremation ground in Sector 32, said, “On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we received around 70 bodies that were brought by families at both the crematoriums (including one in Madanpuri). All the pressure has come on MCG ambulances and they are working for more than 18 hours to transport bodies from homes. The situation has worsened due to the strike,” he said.

Private hospitals said they were helpless as they did not have enough ambulances or vehicles to shift patients and that ambulances are currently shuttling between the hospital and oxygen centres. They also expressed concerns over relatives of Covid-19 victims ferrying them to their premises without wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Anil Khatana, head of operations, W Pratiksha Hospital in Sector 56, said that they have only one ambulance which is entirely on oxygen duty. “The ambulances get oxygen on priority, so we send our ambulance to refill oxygen. The hospital has received over 200 calls for providing ambulance as residents are not able to find any, but even our vendors are on strike,” he said.