New ambulances gathering dust as patients suffer

BENGALURU: While patients suffer as they are not able to get ambulance of the 108 Arogya Kavacha on time, new ambulances are gathering dust on the premises of Arogya Soudha in Bengaluru. Public TV exposed the mismanagement of the Health Department as the amublances have been idle, parked in the open.

The department purchased ambulances at a cost of Rs 82 crore, which are now parked unused. This comes amidst instances where a patient reached KC General Hospital in goods autorickshaw as the family could not get an ambulance during an emergency.

As there was a shortage of ambulances in the state, 262 new ambulances were purchased by the Health Department towards the end of 2023 and launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. But most of them are gathering dust due to non-utilisation. In the meanwhile, patients are suffering in parts of the state due to the unavailability of life support ambulance services.

There are a total of 715 ambulances in the state and 262 new ones were purchased. Of them, 20 per cent of ambulances are not functioning. The government had purchased a total of 157 Basic Life Support Ambulances (BLS), 105 Advanced Life Support Ambulances (ALS) at a cost of Rs 82,02,88,120 crore.  Ambulances have been provided to some taluks and districts and some hospitals in Bengaluru, whereas in some places, they have not been provided.