Next-gen ambulances to have equipment to extricate crash victims
road crash victims
get
medical assistance
in the quickest possible time, the next-generation ambulances will have equipment such as glassbreak or window punch tool, rescue axe, bolt cutter, heavy-duty hydraulic jack and basic vehicle tool set to extricate persons trapped inside vehicles, as happens often after accidents.
The Centre is finalising changes in the
Automotive Industry Standards
(AIS) for ambulances to ensure availability of these equipment in the vehicles and has published the draft notification. Some of the ambulances will be equipped to transport sick or premature newborns from one hospital to another for better care and function as neonatal ambulance. There will be multiple stretcher ambulances also to help in road crashes, fires and other accidents or disasters.
The draft AIS mentions nine pieces of equipment that ambulances must have, besides a fire extinguisher and respiratory protection masks. "The changes needed will be incorporated soon," said an official.
The ambulances will also have LED flashlights or torches, reflective warning triangles, emergency light bars and reflective safety jackets for all crew members to avoid an accident during rescue operations.
These changes gain importance considering that there have been several instances of ambulances not being of much use even after reaching accident sites, as the injured trapped inside vehicles could not be taken out on time.
Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has been stressing the need to equip ambulances with such equipment. "Most of the time it is difficult to find or source cutting tools after crashes. More often than not, ambulances and cranes parked at toll plazas are showpieces, being non-functional," he had said. As per estimates, lives of around 50% of victims could be saved if they get help in the first, or golden, hour.
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