Two companies had evinced interest in taking up the air ambulance project in the State, the Minister said.

The much-awaited two-wheeler ambulances will hit the streets in the State from Wednesday. Health Minister U.T. Khader, who launched 30 first responder bike ambulances in the city on Tuesday, said his department was working at introducing air ambulances in the State by this year end.

Two companies had evinced interest in taking up the air ambulance project in the State, the Minister said.

Terming the bike ambulance project as a “platinum ten minutes” trauma care initiative, Mr Khader said the bikes will be flagged off by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday.

Aimed at reducing deaths due to road accidents, the platinum trauma care initiative is useful for negotiating heavy traffic in urban areas where it will be difficult for four-wheeler ambulances to reach the accident spot at the earliest.

Of the 30, 21 will be stationed at strategic locations in the city and one each in the districts of Mysore, Mangaluru, Kalaburgi, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Davangere, Tumkuru, Vijayapura and Shivamogga.

The initiative will be implemented through GVK-EMRI, the organisation that is running the 108 Arogya Kavacha ambulance service. The bike ambulance rider will be a trained paramedic who has a driving licence. “The paramedic will reach the spot in ten minutes and give first aid and start resuscitation measures to save the victim till the four-wheeler ambulance arrives,” he said.

Each bike ambulance will carry 40 medical items including stethoscope, pulse oxymeter, bandages and IV normal saline apart from 53 basic drugs. The government has spent nearly Rs 2 lakh on each of the bike ambulances.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Afshan Yasmeen /Bengaluru – April 14th, 2015