CM Naveen Patnaik dedicates 349 ambulances to people

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday dedicated 349 ambulances to the people of the State for better patient care.

Naveen flagged off the ambulances here at Kalinga Stadium. Out of the 349 ambulances, 279 will be managed under 108 emergency ambulance service and the rest 70 will be deployed at the medical colleges and hospitals and district headquarters hospitals (DHHs) to facilitate emergency patient transportation at their level, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

The 70 ambulances will be deployed at the medical colleges and district hospitals for transportation of Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) patients referred to private hospitals. Out of these, 30 are Advanced Life Support (ALS) and 40 are Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances. The government has spent Rs 148.45 crore for launching the new ambulances in the State.

With the dedication of new ambulances, the total strength of 108 ambulances in the State has gone up to 1,366. At present, more than 4,000 patients are provided 108 ambulance services across the State on a daily basis. So, the inclusion of new ambulances will further boost the reach and scale of the emergency patient transportation. In another event, the Chief Minister dedicated a modular operation theatre complex in Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. Dedicating the modular OT complex, Naveen said this state-of-the-art facility is a huge step forward for the treatment of patients in critical conditions.

The OT complex has been constructed at a cost of Rs 16.76 crore and there are four operation theatres in this complex which can support eight operations simultaneously.