108 Ambulance is operated under National Health Mission and completely Subsidized by Govt of India. On 27th February, 2019 Switch India through its medical education wing conducted a visit to the 108 Maharashtra Emergency Medical Service (MEMS) Head office , Aundh , Pune.
A team of 14 young enthusiastic medical students from various colleges united by Switch India reached the centre with an ambition to learn about the actual working of the centre dispatching ambulances wherever required in the state of Maharashtra.
After a short introduction round the team was welcomed by the staff members and guided to assemble in a conference hall where they were briefed about how the ambulance is dispatched to the patients in emergency within the platinum 10 minutes of traumatic injuries.
The centre had helped around 36.5 lakh emergency patients throughout the state in the past 5 years. The students were also comprehended about the EMS star of life and their 3Cs protocol.
Then the team was taken to the actual call centre unit which comprised of many subunits. They were explained in detail when a person in need calls up 108 how the entire procedure from an opening statement to a closing statement works.
The call operators there do an amazing job answering so many calls the entire day that too maintaining their politeness and dignity inspite of the nuisances of some callers. Then a briefing about all the desks of the department and their synergistic working was given to the students.
The newly developed bike ambulance care was described as well. Also, they got a chance to observe live calls and their management beside the call operators.
Followed by a short tea break the team was taken to training rooms where BLS (Basic Life Support) was taught to the trainees and the pilot (driver) of the ambulance using dummies and various equipments.
Then the students were taken to survey an actual ALS (Advance Life Support) ambulance wherein the various emergency medicines, oxygen cylinders, ventilator, stair wheelchair, modifiable stretcher, spine board, scoop board and many more equipments inside the ambulance van were shown.
The perks were new friends, group photograph and all the members bode farewell to each other and heading back home with bags full of knowledge and satisfaction hoping for more such fantastic visits and projects.
