Thiruvananthapuram: Thousands of cardiac arrests and delivery emergency cases were taken care of by 108 ambulance fleet during its operations for five-and-a- half years in the city.
But, five months after the operations were taken over by the state government from private service providers, the ambulances have stopped attending to cases other than motor vehicle accidents.
“The ICU devices in most of the ambulances have stopped functioning. Now tenders have to be floated for each repair and the maintenance lags own. Hence the ambulances are used for serious accidents only,” the staffers said.
As per sources, the government is operating 108 fleet at a higher cost compared to the figures private companies had quoted.
The National Health Mission, which provide funds from the scheme, are also inclined to give up the responsibility of 108.
“Two private companies gave quotes to run the operation. However, the claimed cost of operation was deemed high by the state which was not ready to pay more than Rs 123 for per kilometre operation.
After taking over, the government now has ended up by spending more money than what private companies had quoted,” said a Kerala Medical Services Corporation source.
Keltron, which has the infrastructure to handle the services, had shown interest to operate 108, but the government has not given permission for this move.
The private company GVK, which was earlier managing the fleet, had given insurance cover to its staff. However with government taking over, the ambulance pilots and staffers get no insurance.
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