care is now only a few minutes away. Former president Dr A P J Abdul
Kalam on Wednesday evening launched the toll free 108 emergency
services with the first fleet of 20 state-of-the-art ambulances ready
to attend to any and every police, fire and medical emergencies in and
around Ahmedabad region. The response time for attending to any
emergency call under the 108 services is expected to be 10-15 minutes.
“108
is your friend in all kinds of emergencies. Close to 1.2 million people
die every year in road accidents in the country. With services like the
108 these fatalities can reduce significantly,” said Dr Kalam. Health
Minister Ashok Bhatt made the first ‘108’ call.
The venture is an
example of public-private partnership between the Hyderabad-based
Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) and the Government
of Gujarat. The state government has provided the initial capital and
maintenance costs while the technical and operational autonomy will
rest with EMRI. A MoU to this effect was signed between Venkat
Changacalli, CEO EMRI and Dr Amarjit Singh, Health Commissioner,
Government of Gujarat.
The
EMRI service is targetted to spread throughout the state within the
next two years and have a fleet of 400 ambulances. The state government
has allotted 10 acres of land to the EMRI in Kathwada to set up an
institute for research on emergency services. Till then, EMRI will
function out of the Civil Hospital, Sola, where a call centre has been
set up.
Chief
Minister Narendra Modi said, “By 2010, which is the golden jubilee of
Gujarat’s formation we will have ensured that in the “golden hour”
after any emergency the best emergency services are available to all
citizens in the state.” EMRI a not for profit organisation was setup in
Hyderabad, and is and founded and funded by B Ramalinga Raju, Chairman
Satyam Computers.
Source by cities.expressindia.com
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