Ambulances to be used centrally for ferrying Covid patients

Ghaziabad: The Uttar Pradesh government has issued directions that all the ambulances under the ‘108 service’ in the state will be used for ferrying patients requiring emergency services, including Covid-19 patients, officials of the district administration said on Monday

Ghaziabad: The Uttar Pradesh government has issued directions that all the ambulances under the ‘108 service’ in the state will be used for ferrying patients requiring emergency services, including Covid-19 patients, officials of the district administration said on Monday. The officials also said that the ambulance service will be made available centrally through its emergency response centre (ERC) based at Lucknow.

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On July 30 last year, a cap of 50% was announced for the ambulances under the ‘108 service’ for ferrying Covid patients. However, the order was modified on February 9 this year in which 10% of ‘108’ ambulances were to be used as the Covid cases had started to decline. However, with the spike in cases in March, another order was issued on March 24 in which the usage was fixed at 25%, while the respective district magistrates were authorised to give permission for usage above the limit under extraordinary circumstances.

“The latest order states that all the ‘108’ ambulances could be used in emergency situations, including ferrying Covid patients. A meeting to this effect was also held on Sunday,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

“The latest directions mean that all the ‘108’ and ALS ambulances will be available for emergency services, including for ferrying Covid patients. However, they will be operated through the ERC at Lucknow through information given by the district’s Integrated Covid Command and Control Centre. Earlier, an officer from the health department was coordinating for arranging ambulances at district level,” said an officer from the district health department.

The latest order further said that one attendant will be allowed with Covid-19 positive patient in an ambulance, and both will be provided triple layered mask and hand gloves. It also said that supplementary oxygen therapy will be given to a Covid patient when required and the entire ambulance will be disinfected as per protocol after transportation of patients.

According to the state control room records, Ghaziabad on Monday recorded 46 Covid-19 cases. With this, the district has now 397 active cases. Overall, the state on Monday recorded 3,999 fresh cases, as per the control room figures.