Telangana Expands Ambulance Fleet, Enhancing Rural Healthcare Access
2 Dec 2024 11:22 PM IST
Telangana's healthcare infrastructure received a significant boost with the deployment of 136 ambulances, increasing the state’s fleet to 626 vehicles. (Image: DC)
Hyderabad: Telangana's healthcare infrastructure received a significant boost with the deployment of 136 ambulances, increasing the state’s fleet to 626 vehicles. This initiative is focused on under-served rural and tribal areas. This expansion has reduced the population-per-ambulance ratio from 86,500 to 66,500.
Of the new ambulances, 28 have been assigned to tribal zones and 108 to highways and under-served rural mandals. The enhanced fleet has also improved response times.
In rural areas, average response times have decreased from 18 to nearly 13 minutes, while in tribal zones, from 20 to about 14 minutes. For road traffic accidents, response times now range between 8 and 10 minutes, with hospitalisation times reduced to 30-35 minutes. These improvements have led to a notable rise in golden-hour hospitalisation rates from 61 to 75-80 per
cent.
cent.
In the network are 593 emergency vehicles, of which 31 are advanced life support (ALS) and 562 are basic life support (BLS) ambulances. Each district is equipped with an ALS neonatal ambulance. The fleet also includes 300 Ammavodi vehicles dedicated to maternal and child health and 50 hearse vans for dignified transportation of the deceased.
The expanded service is set to benefit around 6.5 lakh individuals annually. Plans are underway to deploy an additional 77 ambulances to cover mandals currently without dedicated vehicles.
Building public awareness around the 108 toll-free emergency service remains a priority, ensuring every citizen understands and utilises the resources available during critical moments.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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