KOZHIKODE: The Medical College Hospital here lacks sufficient number of ambulances and the existing ones are in poor working condition. This has hit the patients badly as bodies are often detained for hours at the medical college due to the inability of families to afford private ambulances.
The MCH has 16 permanent ambulance drivers but only six vehicles. Four of them are not in running condition and the two are badly maintained. The worst affected are the people from tribal communities who depend solely on the ambulance service provided by MCH through the tribal development project of the state government. The drivers refuse to take out the vehicles to high range areas.
According to a driver, three more vehicles are needed for the smooth functioning of hospital procedures. "All the ambulances in MCH have crossed over 3 lakh kms. According to the Motor Vehicles Department regulations, they should not ply on the road without ensuring fitness, he said.
Recently, while one ambulance was going to Kalpetta region of Wayanad district with the body of a person from the tribal community, the vehicle broke down and they had to wait for hours till another vehicle arrived. In yet another incident of official callousness, 13 persons were crammed into an ambulance and forced to travel over 100 km from Kozhikode medical college to Pulpally in Wayanad.
A few months back, the MCH superintendent submitted a proposal to the government for sanctioning a new ambulance, but the authorities rejected it. At the same time, the MCH Principal also rejected the proposal submitted by the superintendent for buying a new ambulance costing Rs 12 lakh from the Hospital Development Fund (HDF), citing lack of fund with the department.
"With the medical college registering an average of five to ten deaths every day, the availability of an ambulance is practically nil on most days," said S. Jithin, a staff member. At present, the MCH provides ambulance service only for the tribal community and the rest of the people especially from the BPL depend on private ambulances paying an amount of Rs 22 per km, he added.
