Bike Ambulances Soon to Make a Comeback in City

In a city where traffic snarls and bottlenecks are a way of life, a few minutes’ delay could well cost a life. That’s why the Pune charity commissioner has demanded that charitable hospitals across the district should start a new service — a fleet of two-wheeler ambulances — to provide quick response treatment before a full-fledged ambulance reaches the spot. The joint charity commissioner has asked all the 56 charitable hospitals registered with the Pune office to start with at least two bike ambulances that will be equipped with the necessary caregiving medical facilities, should hit the streets as part of a pilot project. The order has been recently issued by Dilip Deshmukh, joint charity commissioner, Pune, with the objective of providing swift medical assistance to patients during emergencies. A meeting was also held between officials of all the 56 charitable hospitals and the charity commissioner regarding the initiative. The hospitals have agreed to the request and soon the bike ambulances will be made available, said the officials.

Deshmukh shared, “The aim is that the patients should get medical aid during the golden hour and there should not be a single death due to delay in reaching the necessary aid to the patients in each case. The city has increased in size by leaps and bounds and the number of vehicles plying in it is increasing every day. It becomes difficult for the regular ambulances to reach the patients on time due to heavy traffic especially during peak hours. If the bike ambulances are started by the hospitals they can reach the patients before the ambulances and provide succor.” Deshmukh added, “The direction has been given to start with at least two bike ambulances on a pilot basis. If this drive is successful the number of bike ambulances can be increased by the hospitals. During a meeting with the charitable hospitals, most of the hospitals have readily agreed to the initiative.” Most hospitals have agreed to start the service but they have also brought up the issue that similar experiments in the past had failed, but that they are hopeful this time.

Bomi Bhote, chief executive officer, Ruby Hall Clinic and chairman of the charitable hospitals’ association, said, “Ruby Hall had three bike ambulances five years ago. The two-wheelers were fully equipped with the necessary equipment. These vehicles reached target spots before the big ambulances and the patients were stabilized till the latter could come. Slowly the demand for cardiac ambulances increased and the bike ambulance lost its sheen.” Bhote, said, “Once the demand fell we stopped the bike ambulance services. Now we will again purchase new bike ambulances and the service will be started soon.” Dr Rhea Punjabi, medical superintendent of Inlaks & Budhrani Hospital remembers bike ambulances as a failed experiment. Punjabi said, “Yes we will buy the new bike ambulances and start the service as per the instruction of the charity commissioner. But in the past we had a bad experience when we started with the bike ambulances in 1990. During that time, most of the people demanded cardiac ambulances. We hope that this time if we start the service it will work. We also need to look into other facilities which can be added to the bike ambulances.” – Pune Mirror