Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today dedicated 24 new Basic Life Support ambulances and 299 upgraded Advanced Life Support ambulances for the people of the State.
The Chief Minister said that this will provide advanced ambulance services to every block of the State.
It is worth mentioning that 108 emergency ambulance services were started in the State on March 5, 2013, and as of now 624 ambulances are providing free services to the people of 30 districts across the State. Out of these 624 ambulances, 512 are basic life support ambulances and 112 are advanced life support ambulances. In addition to this, 6 boat ambulances are also in operation in the State.
Provision has been made for commission of 92 new emergency ambulances on a phased basis to further improve the emergency ambulance service, out of which 24 new ambulances have already been procured and Rs 9.6 crore have been spent for this. Besodes, 299 basic life support ambulances have been converted into advanced life support ambulances (BLS converted to ALS) and have been made operational from today. After this upgrade, the total number of state-of-the-art advanced life support ambulances in the State has reached 411.
The State Government has spent a total of Rs 52 crore from its own funds for this upgrade. This will ensure that at least one modified Advanced Life Support ambulance service can be provided in each block.
Apart from this, 500 Janani Express ambulances are also in operation to carry pregnant women and sick children to the hospital. Till date, more than 88 lakh people of the State have been benefited by different ambulance services.
Health Minister Niranjan Pujari, Secretary to CM (5T) VK Pandian, Health Secretary Shalini Pandit and senior officials of the Health Department were present in the programme.