Battery-operated vehicles ferry patients from one ward to another inside the SCB Medical College and Hospital and (left) indoor ambulance service being launched on Monday. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Sept. 5: An indoor ambulance service was launched at SCB Medical College and Hospital today by health and family welfare minister Prasanna Acharya. The ambulance service will ferry patients from one ward to another on SCB campus.

“This is the first time in Orissa that such a facility has been started. The indoor ambulance service will benefit thousands of patients coming to SCB,” said Acharya.

He added that the battery-operated eco-friendly vehicles would ferry patients from one department to the other. It would save time as well as provide a comfortable ride to patients while moving across various departments.

The new transportation system is likely put an end to all problems related to dearth of quality stretchers and stretcher-bearers to carry patients over the SCB campus. Earlier, patients used to be carried by their attendants and others because of shortage in stretcher-bearers. Lack of stretchers and stretcher-bearers also forced some patients to walk from one department to another.

“This is the second time that I have come to SCB seeking medical service. Though many other patients are still being carried on stretchers, I was lucky enough to avail the new transportation facility today,” said Suvendu Swain, 16, a patient from Jagatsinghpur. Swain was the first patient to avail the indoor ambulance facility.

As an initial measure, two such eco-friendly vehicles have been engaged to carry patients on the campus. Hospital sources said that the number of such eco-friendly vehicles would go up depending on the success of the initiative.

The indoor facility would function round the clock. Twenty-three personnel, including drivers, have been deployed to operate the service which had been completely outsourced, said Narayan Kumar, managing trustee of the NGO, We Care.

“There will be a control room from where one supervisor will divert vehicles to respective wards. Patients will be carried to other departments from their respective wards. The drivers will also be equipped with walkie-talkies for quick communication with the officials at the control room,” said Kumar. The cost of the four-seater vehicle is around Rs 8.5 lakh. The SCB authorities will pay Rs 90,000 per vehicle annually for using the service.

Kumar said the vehicles had been designed in such a manner that oxygen cylinders, saline and other first aid could be administered to patients on the go. “This is a welcome step as the attendants were facing problems in moving patients from one ward to other. We will definitely increase the number of vehicles in the future,” said SCB emergency officer B.N. Moharana.