Mobile app for better ambulance services launched

Chennai: As an initiative to provide ambulance services at accident spots and to cut down the ambulance response time in emergency cases, Tamil Nadu government launched a new GPS based mobile application, ‘Avasaram 108,’ on Thursday.

The mobile application uses GPS based tracking system to track the exact location (longitude and latitude) of the accident spot after receiving the emergency-related call by the user. The map will automatically detect and position the current location using GPS if the location to be reported is not the same, the marker symbol can be dragged and dropped in the required place on the map.

Based on a similar concept as cab aggregators, ambulance drivers will be alerted on receiving the call and they can track the location using the mobile application on their own mobile phones. ‘Avasaram 108’, launched at a cost of Rs 80 lakh is believed to reduce the response time in case of accidents in suburban areas and other places that do not have adequate healthcare facilities in the vicinity.

Ambulance drivers are to be provided with Android phones at a total cost of '75 lakh by the state government. Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami gave away mobile phones to 3 ambulance drivers and launched 22 new ambulances, of which he flagged off 12 of them on Thursday. ‘Avasaram 108’ was downloaded by 100 users on day one and had received mixed reviews from the users. While one of the major concerns of users was the reliability of the mobile application in case of unavailability of the Internet, most of the app reviews were on a positive note appreciating the efforts of health and family welfare department.

“The mobile application does not require an Internet after being downloaded and can work without Internet in low network areas also. People who come across accidents in unknown locations can be tracked easily and emergency ambulance services can be provided in a lower response time than usual,” said health secretary J. Radhakrishnan.

Many users emphasised on the need of second stage confirmation by the 108-helpline call centre once an alert is made by the user, as there can be cases of an alert being sent accidentally. “The idea of introducing the mobile application is to meet the need of ambulances in case of emergency. Once the application usage evolves and there are many accidental alerts, we can work on methods to receive second stage confirmation from users in the future,” said Prabhu Das, a senior official at the 108-helpline call centre.