PANAJI: The state government will introduce a two-wheeler ambulance service under the wings of the 108 ambulance service, which has been running in the state for the last several years.
The two-wheeler ambulance service carrying life saving equipment will kick off along the coastal belt in July.
Announcing the new initiative on Thursday, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said that 20 two-wheeler ambulances would be procured in July and would be pressed into service chiefly along the coastal belt.
Goa will be the second state in the country to run such a two-wheeler ambulance service, which thrives in neighbouring Karnataka.
Paramedics will ride these two-wheeler ambulances to an accident site or an emergency spot in a record time.
Rane told ‘The Navhind Times’ that it would be a quick response service, and would have all the equipment and facilities like oxygen cylinder, injections and others, which are required to stabilise a patient. These two-wheeler ambulances would be stationed along the coastal belt where sometimes 108 ambulances struggle to reach due to narrow roads.
The minister also said the new ten four-wheeler ambulances, which also would be procured along with the two-wheeler ambulances, would be fitted with the equipment required to stabilise a person afflicted by cardiac arrest.
Rane said the health department would take up many more initiatives in near future.
