Air ambulance to be launched at limited scale

An air ambulance service set to be added to the Rescue 1122 fleet to transport patients requiring urgent with skepticism by some others in view of the project’s likely cost as compared to its benefit.

Rescue personnel remain optimistic of the project’s unparalleled utility, claiming that the department had done preliminary studies about its efficacy.

Some personnel who claimed to have knowledge of the nitty-gritty of the project asserted that the air ambulance would only work in very limited scenarios for a few patients. Almost all rural areas in Punjab are within a 100km radius from a major city. They said provision of the required facilities in the hospitals of all cities would pay dividend over a longer time than the announced initiative.

They said air ambulance service was available around the world but Pakistan was facing paucity of resources.

Dr Tauqeer Akhtar, the owner of a medical facility and a social worker, said a doctor realized the importance of ach life but for the government that had to look after millions of people, the focus should be on equitable distribution of resources.

He contended that uplifting a few dozen hospitals in South Punjab would help save innumerable lives. He said air ambulance might work from South Punjab to Islamabad or Lahore but it would take considerable time shifting the patient first to an aircraft and then to a hospital in the urban centre as government hospitals were not close to landing sites.

Sources in Rescue 1122 official, however, said the department had done preparatory work before seeking a green signal from the government. He said simulation exercises had validated the projections of the time required for transporting patients.

They said the project at this stage would not be available for the entire province, but for a handful of areas.

The sources said the landing sites had been identified in he selected areas and SOPs had been chalked out for shifting the patients from air ambulance to hospitals. Motorways will also double as landing sites.

The planes will remain on standby in Lahore or Islamabad and will fly on 15 to 30 minutes notice, it was revealed.

The sources said the initiative would also serve as a pilot project and help in bringing improvements during the expansion of the service.

The project is scheduled to go live by June.

An official said extensive work was being done at the same time for upgrading the tehsil and district headquarters hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2024.