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Disclaimer: Few of you may classify this post under “Mindless Rant” but I still am going to express my view. Excuse my story telling capabilities because, they are non-existent…
Just an hour ago, a few minutes past midnight, I was coming home from work. Taking a right turn from Hosur Road (BLR) to Jail road, I see a group of about 8 policemen standing around a body lying in the middle of the road. There were another couple of policemen who were waiting on the other side of the road, trying to cross and join the other 8 colleagues. I briefly halt my car and carry on – take the right turn (no pun intended)
After about hundred meters, I see a police jeep with siren, sprinting down to reach the accident spot perhaps.
Now this could be a hit and run… the first group of policemen did not arrive there in a jeep. They got there on their bikes. Assuming they usually hunt in pairs (again, no pun intended)… I am trying to reconstruct the scene.
A message flashes on the wireless saying there is a hit and run… 5 different groups of policemen who were on night patrol reach the spot from the different areas they were patrolling. This could probably have taken 10-15 mins for all 10 of them to reach the spot. The jeep is also dispatched…

In most developed countries you would see a Ambulance...

Where the heck is the ambulance here? Or do the policemen consider themselves competent to declare a person dead? Most, and no offence to any cop, are 12th pass, so i am assuming they cant declare a chicken dead, leave alone human beings.

Now take a moment to understand where my frustration is coming from. I want to know what it takes to get world class medical care. It is simple math actually.

Assuming we divide a city into 5 zone, N-E-W-S and central and assign 3 ambulances to each zone. Assuming that each state-of-the-art ambulance costs 30 lacs, the total cost will be 90 lacs per zone and 90*5 zones =4.5 crores. Another 10 lac to set up/upgrade infrastructure, personell etc to man a central distress communication tower linked to the cops’ wireless frequency. About 5 crores is all that is required to have world class emergency medical care that ensures that an ambulance reaches an accident victim in 10 mins flat, atleast in the dead of the night.

Here are some more numbers to chew on – India is spending amounts in excess of 1 lac crore (that is not a typo) on setting up the civil nuclear reactors to meet our power/electricity demands for the future.

Why does our country misplace its priorities? Isnt human life more important than electricity? Electricity is important, but human life, probably should win the vote hands down…

Think of the country like it’s your house and its citizens your family members. If you had the last 10,000 rupees to spend and you are given a choice, only between buying a generator or purchasing medical insurance for your family, what should you buy?

Bottomline: I would rather sit in the dark the rest of my life, than die on the street due to lack of medical attention.. But that is me...


Please first read the following, if you decided to give me a dressing down for starting this thread: I know that India is a great country, it is a super power and I am proud of the diversity of the nation. I know about the rich culture and history that we have and our role in shaping the world, as we know it today – be it the field of medicine, mathematics, astronomy or science in general. I am not criticizing mindlessly. I am pointing out a simple but sad truth of the world of politics… Where making money is the primary agenda. Think about the 1.2 lac crore nuclear deal signed with USA… and then think about Bofors... and then reply, if you wish to.

A very valid point.
But I guess it would take lot more than the mere 5 crores to setup and man such a medical service. Setup is usually cheaper than sustaining such a service, in the longer run. But as you rightly said, nothing can be compared to human life.
I believe such an initiative was taken and a central distress line was setup, at least so I heard in Delhi. It was called CATS I think. But somehow, it never caught up. It really helps if we have a single number that can be dialed to get the cops, ambulance or the fire service(If need be) on the accident site. It sure will help save some lives which are lost due to delay in getting proper medical attention.

Wrong you are.
In India human life is not that valuable.

You can buy and sell lives in few thousands.

(and this post is not in jest)


If human lives are really that valuable, we wont let calamities like Floods, Tsunamis, earthquakes etc affect so many human lives.
In US, even if a few ppl die, public makes sure that govt spends rightly in aid of those who need it. There are plans made to avert similar happening later.

What about India?

At Cochin / Ernakulam, you have ambulance services along highways, which are sponsored by private hospitals. Accident victims are taken to the hospital of the first ambulance which comes along. :-( Other private hospitals will simply not admit accident cases - citing legal issues.

And I do not think that the ambulance in India would cost 30 Lakh. The Indian ambulance is a white coloured van (Matador307 / Omni / Tata 407 / Allwyn Nissan - in that order of size and frequency) painted white, a red cross on four sides, blue light on top and facility for a strecher. The (un)lucky victim may get an ambulance equiped with oxygen mask.

I too do feel frustrated when people reporting accidents have to call up twice - one to the police, and another for an ambulance.

Fortunately, in a significant number of cases, some passing by vehicle will volunteer to take the victim to some hospital.

I feel pity for the person who was lying there. May his soul RIP.

Talking about ambulances we do have services of Sanjeevini which is a 24 hrs service. I do not know whether this was used. Moreover, Narayana Hrudayalaya is just 15 mins from the spot of accident. It does has the accident trauma centre. Not sure whether anybody had called up.

As told by alpha1, the lives of we Indians are very cheap and is not valued. Look at the case of flood situation in Bihar. Nobody has the will to actually help the people there. Though people have announced monetary relief to people, doctors are stillnot prepared to go there and help out the people.

I guess this is not about availability of ambulances or their capablities alone. It also about reaching medical help to the injured in time. Why cannot the police and whoever is operating ambulance services co-ordinate? Why cannot the police control rooms inform the nearest ambulance service once it receives information of an accident?

(Below is from the NEXT post - just saving on post counts)

I would not have stopped IF the police was around - unless the police asked me to. IMHO, he did the right thing.

I am sorry but I totally disagree with your post.

• All that you have described are assumptions.
• You actually did not know when the accident happened and even if it was a hit and run.
• As there was no ambulance when you were passing by, you are again assuming that an ambulance was not called for and that the "12th standard pass" cops are going to declare the victim dead.
• You could not even be bothered to stop and offer to transport the victim to the nearest hospital. Then what gives you the right to comment about the system?

Just my opinion. No offense meant.

Cheers,

Rajan

Not sure whether the police had informed in this case. But usually, IMO, Police do call up ambulances to go to that spot. But it all depends on how fast the ambulance arrives at that spot. This is a bigger problem.

having 5 ambulance will not cater to the need of Bangalore especially during peak hours. Also trained personnel to man these ambulance matter more than the vehicle, trauma care especially in the first 30 mts often decides the victims fate.

Valid point but there are efforts being made towards this and hopefully we will have a more efficient system with us.

Hi Rajan - None take...

Around 2004, my friend and i were returning from MG road at about 3 am.. on the flyover at OLD madras road towards banaswadi, we saw a young guy, aged 23 (i will tell u later how i know the age) lying face down with a head injury and lost lots of blood... fallen off his bullet.. the bullet was lying 20 yards away...
there were a couple of others passers by looking on.. lorries just drove by.. couple of feet from where he was lying... I called the police station.. they asked me about my name and number and what i was doing there and if i saw the accident take place.. or if the biker skidded and fell.. I said please come here and disconnected the call

then tried calling the ambulance... it dint work... couldnt get a working number.. we thought we will put him in the car.. by then a small crowd had assembled and one wise man spoke... said your car has a dent on the fender... cops will take you and the car in for questioning... stood there for 15 mins diverting traffic... walked away...

still haunts me.. the guy turns out to a close friend's childhood friend... declared bought dead by the hospital...

My point is - if the same accident took place in a country like US or even Dubai, would the result be the same? maybe all I said in the first post were assumptions, but doesnt change the hard facts? is it easy to deal with the police? Is it easy to get an ambulance with proper medical aid on time?

if it wasnt an accident, or a hit and run.. i dont know what possible reason is a man lying down motionless on the road, in the middle of the night? unless ofcourse if it was a police encounter, which would have been headlines in today's paper.

Again, just saying that we need as a country, we need to get our priorities right...

Cheers...