?Fine-tune system for ambulance service so more patients benefit?

MUMBAI: Experts say efforts should be taken to improve the system to ensure that motorists gave way to ambulances.

From September 2014, when the drive was launched, the traffic police have helped many critical patients reach hospitals in the fastest possible time through clogged streets.

Relatives of Rashmin Jain, a Vile Parle resident, are grateful to the department for creating a 'green corridor' for him to reach a hospital in record time. Rashmin had suffered from a brain stroke. Covering the stretch between two hospitals, during the evening peak hour, would have taken his ambulance driver around 30 to 40 minutes. But pilot riders provided by the traffic department helped to complete the journey in 10 minutes flat. "Doctors suggested that we move him to Kokilaben Hospital in Andheri west. We called for an ambulance. But we were worried about the amount of time that Rashmin would be stuck on the road inside the vehicle," said Jain's cousin, Alpesh Shah. The ambulance driver then suggested that Shah dial a helpline that the traffic police had instituted for critically ill patients. "The traffic control room dispatched two bike-borne personnel who took their positions in front of the ambulance. The pilot riders coordinated with their counterparts, deputed at junctions, and ensured that vehicles and pedestrians were cleared in time," said Shah. The group left Irla around 6.30pm and Jain was wheeled into the hospital within 10 minutes. He was treated and subsequently discharged.

The director of a cardiac ambulance service has a word of caution. "The cops were enthusiastic when the campaign started but the zeal seems to be waning. Pilot riders are not provided in all cases," said Dr Santosh Kumar, who had accompanied a patient from a hospital in Goregaon to one in Bandra.

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