ગુજરાતી
English
108 was taken away while saving 15 lakh lives in 17 years
10 thousand crores spent in the next 10 years? Government hides the name and cost of the company
Dilip Patel
Ahmedabad, 23 August 2024
Gujarat’s 108 ambulance emergency service, which attends a call in a disaster, will complete 17 years on 29 August. The health emergency service started in 2007 has received 1 crore 66 lakh calls in 17 years.
Disaster, emergency, immediate medical treatment, life-saving ambulance service has become a lifeline. For which people will not have to spend anything.
Two rings
99 percent of phone calls are picked up and answered within the first two rings. Which is of better quality than international level and standard. About 7000 calls are received daily.
Submit in 18 minutes
The average response time in the state is 18 minutes. An ambulance reaches in 11 minutes in the urban area. The response time in the rural area is 22 minutes. These 108 services are spread across all 257 talukas, 18 thousand villages, 33 districts and metros. In 2022, 12 lakh 72 thousand 343 people were helped. 1 lakh 20 thousand 723 suffering patients receive emergency services. In 2019, it took an average of 14 minutes 45 seconds in urban areas and 23 minutes 51 seconds in rural areas. Which has improved.
Ideal in the country
It has been established as a role model for other states. It reaches cities, talukas and remote villages of all districts of Gujarat. On an average, 3300 patients are taken to the hospital in an emergency situation every day. 40 thousand people from the country and abroad have personally visited the Emergency Response Center. The rule of keeping one ambulance per one lakh population is well implemented in Gujarat.
10 thousand crores can be spent
The Gujarat government or private company’s 108 never discloses the cost or the name of the company. But if the calculation of Maharashtra’s public expenditure is applied to Gujarat, then from 2024 to 2034, the Gujarat government will spend Rs. 10 thousand crores on this. That is, Rs. 1 thousand crores.
In this item, the Gujarat government has spent Rs. 735 is estimated to be spent. The government should expose the financial accounts of 108 to the public. There have been demands many times that the CAG should be audited. Such questions were also raised when the former Chief Minister’s close brother died untimely.
Respect
As soon as the siren of the 108 ambulance van sounds, people have started respecting it by giving way immediately.
800 Ambulances
The cost of a basic ambulance with lifeguard is Rs. 30.3 lakhs. Today, Rs 800 is spent to buy an ambulance. 240 crores have been spent.
108 started with 53 ambulances, now 800 ambulances in 2024. The state-of-the-art Sabahaar Emergency Response Center is located in Naroda Kathwada, Ahmedabad. The Chief Operating Officer of 108 GVK EMRI is Jashanvat Prajapati. There are 4 thousand employees. Infrastructure like advanced training center, research center and hostel etc. has been developed for the accommodation of trainees. Provides ambulance to newborn babies.
Started in 2007
108 emergency service was started on 29 August 2007. Through this service, which takes the patient to the hospital in one call, the lives of 15 lakh 52 thousand people have been saved in 17 years. 1 lakh 43 thousand children have been born in ambulances.
Diseases and Treatment
24 hour medical emergencies like heart disease, cancer, kidney, maternity, poisonous insect bites, shock injuries, critical illness and severe burn injuries, road accidents, sick newborns etc. Most of the calls received are related to obstetric emergency services. This has helped in reducing maternal and infant mortality in the state of Gujarat.
Treatment worth two crores
Till 20 August 2024, 1 crore 63 lakh patients have been treated. Provides work in times of crisis.
2 lakh 31 thousand police related calls were taken. 6 thousand fire calls have been taken. 55 lakh and 25 thousand deliveries have been helped in emergency situations.
Road Accident
There are 20 lakh 28 thousand emergency calls regarding road accidents. In which 16 lakh 38 thousand soldiers have been given immediate treatment and their lives have been saved.
Diseases and Patients
17 lakh 22 thousand calls have been received complaining of stomach ache.
7 lakh 84 thousand calls were received for cardiac emergencies.
9 lakh 8 thousand calls are for respiratory problems.
7 lakh 14 thousand calls are for high fever.
51 crore 53 lakh kilometers of ambulance has been operated.
108 Citizen Mobile App
108 Citizen Mobile App has been launched. 3 lakh 50 thousand downloads. 30 thousand calls have been received through this application.
Ambulance at sea
108 boat ambulances have been started for medical emergencies when fishermen or foreigners fall ill or have an accident at sea. 742 lives have been saved. 2 boat ambulance services were initially in Porbandar and Bat Dwarka. The boat has a 24-hour crew of 5 members including 1 captain, 3 support staff and 1 trained emergency medical technician.
Air Ambulance
108 air ambulances have been started. 50 lives have been saved. Ambulances are equipped with advanced medical equipment, medicines, ventilator machines and integrated technology, which directly benefits the patient in times of emergency.
Chief Minister’s brother died due to 108
In October 2019, after calling 108, there was a delay of 45 minutes
Khaya Pradhan Vijay Rupani’s Masiyara brother Anilbhai passed away. As soon as the Chief Minister got information about the whole incident, he went to the hospital.
Ordered to take over the ambulance. No one knows what happened next.
Anilbhai was suffering from respiratory disease for a long time. When the problem suddenly increased, the family used to call 108. Initially, the phone was continuously busy for 15 to 20 minutes, but later it was reported by calling 108 from the landline.
After 20 minutes, the operator gave the wrong address. So the ambulance was going to some other address. After which the ambulance could not reach Anilbhai for 45 minutes. Finally, when the ambulance reached Anilbhai’s address, it was too late. Anilbhai died at home before getting treatment.
Maharashtra’s expenditure
The state of Maharashtra will get a new and advanced fleet of 108 ambulances in the next decade. There may be a possible expenditure of 10 thousand crores. This is more than three times the cost of the previous contract.
The contract for 108 ambulance service was earlier operated by BVG Private Limited for a decade. It was completed in January 2024.
BVG Now, a consortium of BVG, Spanish company SSG and financial company Sumit Enterprises has secured a 10-year contract to operate the service in Maharashtra.
The consortium emerged as the sole bidder in the government tender. Which was submitted four times. There was initial interest from 30 companies.
The agency will now acquire and maintain a fleet of 1,756 ambulances. Which is significantly more than the current fleet of 937.
To buy an ambulance, around Rs. 580 crore in capital expenditure and to run the call center and pay the salaries of the medical personnel responsible for ambulance operations, Rs. 700 crore will be spent annually.
The state of Maharashtra has allocated Rs. 580 crore fixed capital cost. In the agreement, the state pays 49% of the ambulance purchase cost upfront and the remaining 51% over the next 10 years. However, it is the operating cost that raises questions. The state does not have Rs. The tender was floated with a base operating cost of Rs 700 crore, subject to an 8% annual increase due to inflation.
The total cost of both operating expenses and capital expenditure is likely to cross Rs 10,000 crore by 2034.
The price of an Advanced Life Support Ambulance and Neonatal Ambulance, initially priced at Rs 48.7 lakh, may increase.
A boat ambulance costs Rs 1.8 crore, and a basic ambulance with life preserver costs Rs 30.3 lakh.
With such a large sum, the government can potentially build its own fleet.
In states like Tamil Nadu, only call centre management and staffing are outsourced, while the vehicles are state-owned.
Concerns have also been raised about the state’s inability to conduct a forensic audit of the service’s performance between 2014 and 2024.
BVG claims to handle about 4,000 emergency cases and 94 lakh cases every day.
Expenditure in 2009
In 2009 nine states have signed MoUs with EMRI to run ERs in their states and other states are also considering it.
The value of the MoUs also varies between states, ranging from Rs. 50 crores per year representing both capex and opex, in Andhra Pradesh it was Rs. 114 crores per year representing only opex expenditure and in Gujarat it was Rs. 252 crores (accounting for both capex and opex) over 5 years. Rs. 1500 crores per year from 2010.
EMRI has recommended that if EMRI is adopted by all the states of India, there should be one ambulance per lakh population. About 10,000 ambulances were required to cover the country. The cost for this would be Rs. 1700 crores per year (Current cost is around Rs. 17 lakhs per ambulance per year, which includes both operational and annual capital expenditure). (Google translation from Gujarati)
