Naugaon: The lone 108 ambulance at Naugaon community health centre (CHC) in Jagatsinghpur district is not in a smooth running condition.
This has been the case for quite some time, leaving people to fend for themselves.
The 108 ambulance has not been repaired since it remained off the road. Due to lack of maintenance, the vehicle’s body and parts have started getting rusted. The window glasses have disappeared, either stolen or broken. Pieces of cardboard have come up in their place.
The seats are damaged. The air conditioner is out of order. The ambulance is stationed on the CHC premises just for the sake of it, it is alleged.
In case of an emergency, if it goes to remote areas to bring a patient to the CHC, break down on the way is just inevitable. In that case, the patient’s relatives or local villagers are required to push it till the driver starts it again.
This is the reason why on most occasions patients cannot reach the CHC on time. This is the reason why people have stopped counting on the government ambulance service. They are seen bringing or shifting their patients in hired ambulance, even if they have to spend some extra bucks.
The block’s population is over one lakh and most of it is below the poverty line. And these people have no other way but to depend on this damaged ambulance.
The residents of this block have demanded early steps to get the ambulance repaired.
When contacted, Naugaon CHC health officer in-charge Dr Sunandan Mohanty said, the chief district medical officer is aware of the condition of the ambulance. Steps would be taken soon for its early repair.
PNN