NHAI to ensure trauma management on highways

Given the rising number of accidents on highways, the National Highways Authority of India will increase the number of ambulances, manned by critical care personnel, on these connectivities.

Given the rising number of accidents on highways, the National Highways Authority of India will increase the number of ambulances, manned by critical care personnel, on these connectivities.

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Nirmaljeet Singh, member, NHAI, said the provision of providing ambulance is part of the contract for the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and the North-South East-West (NSEW) corridors now. It is the contractor's responsibility to make available an ambulance and a crane for evey 50 km of the road after completion.

Currently, there are about 90 ambulances operational on highways but the number would go up to 300 once the GQ and NSEW projects are completed, said Singh.

While the Golden Quadrilateral is 5,846 km long connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, the NSEW corridors aims at connecting Silchar with Porbandar and Srinagar with Kanyakumari covering 7,150 km road.

Besides pressing ambulances, the government has also decided to operate a common emergency number across the country. The proposed helpline will apply to road accidents, snake bites, injuries and even theft on the highways.

The helpline and ambulance services are part of the integrated trauma care system to be implemented on the GQ and later on the NSEW corridors.