Bike ambulances, a boon to tribals
Dornala: The newly introduced feeder ambulances aka motorbike ambulances became a boon to the ailing tribals in Nallamalla forest. These bike ambulances are shifting the patients from the interiors of the forest into the plain area from where the regular 108 ambulance can reach to shift the patient to the hospital for treatment.
It is very tough for the regular ambulances to reach the patients who require emergency care in the remote tribal hamlets. Many of the tribal hamlets in the Nallamala forest are connected by uneven, rocky and narrow roads where only motorbikes or commander jeeps can be able to travel on them.
The people living in them have to carry the people in ‘doli’ in an emergency to the nearby village at about 6 to 10 km distance to send them to the hospital in an ambulance. As the roads, traffic and time are playing a crucial role in saving the life of victims, here comes the idea of bike ambulance to reach the victim in an emergency, tearing through the traffic or scaling ups and downs of the terrain.
The driver cum paramedic offers first aid and then carries the victim to the nearby location where the ambulance with life support can pick him up. About one year ago, taking inspiration from the service of the bike ambulances in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat, the then health minister Kamineni Srinivas announced that the government is mulling to introduce the bike ambulances in tribal areas.
Two weeks ago, the government has introduced bike ambulances in the Nallamala forest area. It supplied six ambulances to ITDA Srisailam limits, in which two ambulances were allocated to tribal areas in Kothapalii and Birluti PHCs in Kurnool district, two ambulances were allocated to Chintala, Korraprolu PHCs in Dornala area and one ambulance to Ganjivaripalli PHC in Yerragondapalem area and the remaining to Sirigiripadu PHC in Guntur district. Since launching, these ambulances are proved to greatly help to the people.
Dr S Rajyalakshmi, Prakasam district medical and health officer, said that these bike ambulances with a bed attached to it to carry the patient are very helpful in shifting the people in an emergency. These vehicles are being used to shift the people to the local PHCs now so that they will be shifted to the tertiary care hospitals if required. She said that these bike ambulances are also provided with medicines and emergency life-saving equipment to help the people respond to the treatment at hospitals.
Dr M Srinivasa Rao, deputy district medical and health officer in ITDA, said that about three to four patients on an average daily are using these bike ambulances. He said that there is a problem with mobile signal connectivity in remote areas like Chintala and Birluti so that the paramedics there are not able to serve the tribals completely. He also said that the coordination between the 108 call centre and feeder ambulances should be improved to increase the average number of patients being served to five, as per the government expectation.