The health and family welfare department of the government has decided to merge all the services of the emergency medical ambulance, boat ambulance, 24×7 referral transport and health helpline under one platform. All of these services will now be available on dialing the toll-free number 108, reducing the burden of having to call different numbers.
The health department has already issued a tender for an agency to carry on with the integration process.
Currently, there are two toll-free helplines active: 108 for emergency medical ambulances, and 102 for 24×7 referral transport. Both helplines are operated by the health department in collaboration with a service provider, through two call centres.
“We have decided to integrate all emergency medical services and deliver the same through one toll-free number instead of multiple ones. This will help improve the overall operational efficiency of the services. We will select an executor for the project and hopefully start the same in the next two months”, said a health department official.
This integrated system will have all 512 advanced life support and basic life support ambulances, 500 referral transport systems for the beneficiaries of Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram and boat ambulances functioning in four riverine districts of the state.
The call centres handling these emergency helplines currently handle more than 10,000 calls per day and approximately 1,100 emergencies daily. The ambulances are equipped with GPS services which help them deliver quicker services to the patients.