Citizens, companies, police and NGOs have joined hands to launch an ambulance service for those in distress on the road, including accident victims.

The four ambulances, equipped with oxygen cylinders, ventilators and cardiac monitors, use GPS to navigate the streets and reach a spot quickly.

All one has to do is call 100 if in distress and the police will alert the nearest ambulance.

The 24-hour voluntary service — a brainchild of Nitai Das Mukhopadhyay, the co-founder of NGO Hive India — is available in areas under Calcutta police’s jurisdiction.

The ambulances have been patrolling south Calcutta streets and the Maidan area every night. Trafficked women, runaway children, people from districts who got lost and old people with dementia had been rescued during such patrols.