Health minister flags off 26 more 108 ambulances

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Bhubaneswar: Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena Thursday flagged off 26 ambulances as part of second phase launching of 108 ambulances in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said, “The new ambulances will cater to healthcare needs of people, especially those in tribal-dominated areas of the state.”
To improve the performance of emergency ambulance services in general and in tribal districts in particular, the government had sanctioned 92 ambulances from its own funds December 23 last year, he stated. “While 24 were flagged off by the Chief Minister the same day, 26 are being dedicated to the service of people today. The remaining 42 will soon be added to the fleet of 108 ambulances,” he added.
The ambulances are meant for nine districts of the state with Sambalpur, Bolangir and Kandhamal getting five ambulances each. Boudh will get four followed by three ambulances for Nayagarh and one each for Sundargarh, Deogarh, Gajapati and Sonepur districts.
The government has also made provision for upgrading 28 basic life support (BLS) ambulances to advanced life support (ALS) ambulances using state funds to strengthen the existing ambulance fleet. The state government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 90 crore for these additional ambulances over a period of five years.
The 108 ambulance service was launched in the state in March 2013 and is currently having a fleet of 444 vehicles covering all 30 districts, providing emergency medical services free of cost to the people of the state. The fleet has 388 BLS and 56 ALS ambulances.
In addition to 108 ambulance service, the state is equipped with a fleet of 500 ambulances under ‘102 Ambulance’ service for carrying pregnant women and sick infants to hospitals.
According to Health department sources, over 35 lakh people of the state have been benefited from the ambulance service so far. The intervention has been instrumental in significant reduction in infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in the state, claimed a press note issued by the health department.