statesman news service New Delhi, 29 July To give a boost to emergency care of accident victims, the Union minister…
statesman news service
New Delhi, 29 July
To give a boost to emergency care of accident victims, the Union minister for road transport and highways, Mr Oscar Fernandes, today launched a pilot project for cashless treatment of accident victims on the Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch of National Highway-8.
Mr Fernandes also flagged off six new advance life support ambulances, for urgently transporting accident victims to nearby hospitals. The ambulances have been supplied by the road transport ministry.
A crash investigation vehicle deployed by National Automotive Testing Research and Development Infrastructure Project (Natrip) for scientific investigation of serious accidents on this stretch, was also flagged off by the minister.
The National Ambulance Code developed by the ministry by utilising the expertise of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, with the active participation of the automobile industry, vehicle testing agencies and other stakeholders, was released on this occasion.
Mr Fernandes said on the basis of the experience gained from this pilot project and the investigation by the team of IIT Delhi a more comprehensive scheme may be launched for the entire country in phases.
Mr Vijay Chhibber, secretary, ministry of road transport & highways, brought out the unique features of the pilot project ~ a toll free number 1033 to report accidents; a 24×7 call centre to receive information about accidents and deploy the nearest ambulance by tracking through GPS devices. The category of first responder, which also includes two-wheeled ambulances, has been specially introduced for the first time in India to provide prompt medical care in congested by-lanes and high traffic areas. He announced that the ministry has already initiated action to make construction of ambulances as per provisions of the Code mandatory under Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
The chief ministers of Haryana and Rajasthan were also present.
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