Ambulance services at Kurnool draw praise

KURNOOL: In the wake of the demise of Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar who succumbed to a massive cardiac arrest, Dr Prabhakar Reddy, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Kurnool Medical College said the efficient use of ‘golden hour’ (the first hour after a stroke) should not be wasted. In most cases, people lose minutes of life by permutations and combinations. 

In Andhra Pradesh, thanks to Chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's initiative, the 108 ambulance unit has become a ‘safe zone’ for the risky ones. The 108 unit in Kurnool has rescued 89,244 people in the last 14 months after getting a telephonic SOS. The district with 54 mandals has 57 ambulances, including 42 basic lift supporters, 13 advanced life supporters, and two neonatal equipment vehicles.

On an average, they are rescuing 6,374 people every month while earlier it was less than 4,000, 108 services district unit manager R. Chandra Mouli said and added that they were concentrating on ‘golden hour’ cases. Every neonatal ambulance has an incubator facility specifically for one-month-old babies, he said and pointed out that there was a total work-force of 295.

Recalling her golden hour moments Nagamani, a native of Suguru village in Mantralayam, said that her right leg was severely injured near Bhima Kolanu in Nallamala forest while she and her family members were walking to Srisailam on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri. “Hats-off to 108 personnel, who reached the spot after we had made just one phone call. They carried me to the ambulance which was parked at least three kilometers away”. From there she was taken to Sunnipenta hospital where she recovered totally.