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| One of the three cardiac ambulances on RIMS premises in Ranchi on Sunday. (Hardeep Singh) |
Should RIMS ambulances find home in a museum? Perhaps yes. Forget life-and-death situations, the emergency wheels are not fit to even keep pace with VIP motorcades.
Saturday was the second time when the cardiac ambulance of the state-run premier hospital, deployed at Morabadi grounds in Ranchi during Narendra Modi’s public address, failed to start when the Prime Minister was already on his way to board the chopper.
Earlier, on November 25, when Modi had touched down at Birsa Munda Airport en route to Chaibasa, another cardiac ambulance of RIMS, which was on standby, was labelled as hopeless by the Special Protection Group (SPG) for the Prime Minister.
RIMS has three cardiac ambulances, which were procured for the National Games in 2006 and were handed over in 2012. Also, there are five normal ambulances — two SUVs, one of them defunct, and three vans. The million dollar question is whether the ambulances of the hospital are in a condition to pick up and drop patients? Drivers chorus NO.
“The SUVs and the vans were purchased way back in 2002. What services can one expect from vehicles that are more than 10 years old?” a driver said, requesting anonymity.
On whether the vehicles undergo proper servicing, another driver said: “Servicing ke bina to yeh sab chal hi nahi sakta. Kisiko bhi koi lane ki baat kahe to humlog saaf keh dete hai, ‘risk lena hai kya?’ (These vehicles wouldn’t run without servicing. If someone asks for our ambulance, we warn them of the risks in advance).”
Asked to detail about the maintenance of cardiac ambulances and the medical equipment fitted inside, a third driver said: “Yeh gari sab to aise hi khade-khade kharab ho rahe hai. Kabhi sune hain ki shahar mein yeh sab kisi ko kaam aaya hai. Maintenance tabhi hota hai jab koi VIP ke peechhe bhagna hota hai (These vehicles are just rotting here at RIMS. Have you ever heard that these have been used to ferry patients in the city? These are sent for maintenance only when there is urgency like escorting a VIP motorcade).”
Acting director of RIMS Dr S.K. Choudhary claimed the cardiac ambulance sent to Morabadi grounds on Saturday had been repaired. “The ambulance in-charge should have looked into the problems properly. We have removed him from the job and deputed a new one to look after ambulance maintenance,” Choudhary said.
