In a major relief for people in inaccessible areas, the Tamil Nadu government is set to introduce 25 bike ambulances. These bike ambulance will serve hard-to-reach remote, non-motorable hamlets in tribal or hilly areas through the existing EMRI services in 10 districts to improve healthcare access in the state's remote habitations.
The government has sanctioned about Rs 1.60 crore to the Mission Director of National Health Mission-Tamil Nadu, to execute and operationalise the service, the government order (GO) dated November 6 said.
Bike ambulance to act as feeder
"The new service will deploy 25 specially equipped bike ambulances as feeder units to the existing '108 (1,353 nos.) ambulance' network. These bikes will bridge last-mile healthcare gaps, provide first-responder emergency services, patient stabilisation, and prompt transport to higher-level care," a release here said on Thursday.
Each bike to serve 25 locations
The release further said that the services to be provided through this new venture will include maternal and child health comprising, support for antenatal care, check-ups, emergency medical care, and transfers to healthcare facilities, among others. As per the release, each of these bike ambulance will serve 25 selected remote villages and is equipped with GPS tracking for real-time fleet management and efficient response allocation.
(With PTI Inputs)
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