In a metropolis like Bengaluru, the place autos will be caught in site visitors for over two hours throughout a ten km commute, even within the suburbs, one of the vital troublesome jobs is that of an ambulance driver attempting to get a affected person to a hospital throughout a medical emergency.
“We’ve got been caught in site visitors many occasions. Even when persons are prepared to provide method, the place will they go? The site visitors congestion is so dangerous fairly often that the entire street is stuffed with vehicles,” mentioned Uday, an ambulance driver for Ebisu Diagnostics in south Bengaluru.
Though the Bengaluru police have proposed a technology-enabled resolution referred to as E-Path to facilitate site visitors clearances for ambulances, the system continues to be solely in a pilot stage and is but to be applied throughout the town.
The E-Path app tracks ambulances and ensures they will transfer freely with out getting caught in site visitors for prolonged intervals. The app is present process varied assessments to boost its performance.
“Using the app includes three phases. Solely the primary stage is operational at current. Manipal Hospitals and the 108 emergency medical response service are the registered customers,” mentioned Shivaprakash Devaraju, Deputy Commissioner of Police (site visitors, south).
“As soon as an ambulance is dispatched, the management room receives a notification, permitting us to pinpoint its location on the map. A constable is then notified manually by the management room throughout this stage,” the DCP mentioned.
He mentioned the second stage will enable constables to obtain notifications straight from the app, eliminating the necessity for a name from the management room. “The third stage includes integrating the app with site visitors sign controllers, enabling automated sign modifications to inexperienced with out human intervention, facilitating smoother transport for ambulance drivers,” the DCP mentioned.
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The second and third phases of the usage of the E-Path app have but to be totally examined and are therefore not operational but. When the introduction of the app was introduced final yr, the Bengaluru site visitors police said they anticipated round 2,700 ambulance drivers to register on the app.
“As soon as the ambulance driver registers on the app, all he has to do is enter the to and from places. This may assist us monitor the ambulance car by geotagging the situation. If the car is caught in site visitors for greater than 60 seconds, an alert is distributed to the site visitors administration centre, which is able to direct the officers on the bottom to clear the site visitors,” a site visitors official in Bengaluru mentioned final yr.
“Generally, the site visitors policeman on the bottom might not be capable of hear the siren as a result of so many autos result in delays in clearing site visitors for the ambulance. The app goals to resolve a number of these challenges,” the official had mentioned.
Fines for breaking site visitors guidelines, congestion at toll cubicles
Ambulance drivers in Bengaluru face vital challenges navigating congested streets, together with fines imposed for violating site visitors guidelines whereas transporting sufferers throughout medical emergencies.
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“Hospitals face varied penalties attributable to violations dedicated by ambulance drivers whereas transporting sufferers,” mentioned Lingaraj, an ambulance driver at St John’s Hospital in Bengaluru.
In line with Raja Tao, assistant safety officer at St John’s Hospital, it will be higher if hospitals didn’t obtain notices for site visitors violations since “ambulances are emergency autos, and halting throughout emergencies can lead to delays in affected person transport to the hospital”.
“The ambulance drivers can’t stick with site visitors rules when a affected person is on board, and we then obtain wonderful receipts from the police. We’ve got to go to the police station to current our justification, after which these fines are usually waived,” Raja Rao mentioned.
Ambulance drivers in Bengaluru additionally complain about being stopped at toll gates across the metropolis whereas transporting sufferers. “The VIP lanes at toll gates are designated for emergency autos to facilitate clear passage. Nevertheless, these lanes are steadily occupied by public transport autos, leading to chaos and delays,” an ambulance driver mentioned.
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Madesah, one other ambulance driver from St John’s Hospital, mentioned, “I used to be in a rush to succeed in the hospital attributable to an emergency. Upon arriving at a toll gate, I discovered the VIP lane congested with public transport autos. Then, I made a decision to make use of the general public transport lane, solely to be scolded by a toll sales space worker.”
(Brinda Srinivasa is an intern with The Indian Specific)