Now, ‘ICU on Wheels’ at all 24 Ahmedabad civil hospitals

All 24 civil hospitals across the state were on Thursday provided with an advanced and modern ‘ICU on Wheels’ ambulance. The service was launched in Ahmedabad by state health minister Jaynarayan Vyas. The ambulances will be of great help in care of critical patients for their pre-hospital and intra-hospital transfer.

The state health department claimed that Gujarat was the first and only state in the country to have such ambulances fitted with latest emergency and life-saving medical instruments of international standards. “All these ambulances are having latest technology and matches international standards in patient care. It doesn’t have any welding, filling or painting in the patient section, which makes it bacteria-free, fire-proof and shock-proof. Special type of PMMA ABS plastic has been used in the ambulances and special seating arrangement for the doctors and paramedical staff has also been made,” said Dr Bimal Modi, orthopaedic surgeon at Gandhinagar Civil Hospital, while giving the details.

Each ambulance has been prepared at a cost of Rs33 lakh. The ‘ICU on Wheels’ is equipped with transport ventilator, cardiac defibrillator-cum-multi-parameter monitor, automatic portable respirator, and a stretcher with a weight-bearing capacity of 100 kg that can be handled by a single person. “All the instruments are light-weight and shock-proof. It has facility for wireless data transfer for   communication with doctors at the base hospital,” said Modi.

About the achievements of the state health department, Vyas said: “While 60 per cent of patients belonging to poor and middle-class take treatment at civil hospitals, doctors at these hospitals deal with critical cases of rest 40 per cent of patients, which most of the private hospitals refuse to attend. In last four years, the state health department has dealt with many challenges successfully. Today, the state is facing a shortage of 60 per cent of post-graduate doctors and 40 per cent of MBBS doctors, because medical and paramedical education was neglected in the past. But we are moving towards a direction where in next five years the state will overcome the shortage.”

The minister also gave information about the upcoming initiatives of the state health department for the   improvement of health services in Gujarat.