Uttar Pradesh has been the leading state in ambulance response time for the past several years, with a present response time of 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Health experts emphasise that timely emergency access to healthcare facilities can save lives. Addressing this critical issue, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has significantly improved the response time of its 108 Ambulance Services.
In 2016-17, the response time was 16 minutes and 52 seconds. Today, it has been reduced to just 7 minutes and 30 seconds. Mission Director of the National Health Mission, Dr Pinky Jowal, said, “Upon taking office, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath initiated significant reforms to strengthen the state’s health services. One key focus was reducing the response time of the 108 Ambulance Service to ensure that critically ill patients could reach hospitals promptly and receive life-saving care.”
She added, “Due to his strategic vision and diligent oversight, the response time for the 108 Ambulance Service has improved remarkably, decreasing from 16 minutes and 52 seconds in 2016-17 to just 7 minutes and 30 seconds today. This improvement was achieved over time but resulted from sustained efforts over the past seven years.”
In 2019, Chief Minister Yogi replaced 662 outdated ambulances with vehicles equipped with modern medical technology and added 712 new ambulances to the fleet. Currently, the state operates 2,200 ambulances under the 108 service, assisting an average of 16,703 patients daily.
National Health Mission General Manager Parag Pandey credited Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s efforts to reduce ambulance response times in Uttar Pradesh consistently.
In 2017-18, the response time for the 108 Ambulance Service was 13 minutes and 23 seconds, which slightly increased to 14 minutes and 46 seconds in 2018-19. The response time further rose to 17 minutes and 28 seconds in 2019-20 and 18 minutes and 7 seconds in 2020-21, mainly due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, significant improvements were made in the following years, reducing the response time to 8 minutes and 46 seconds in 2022-23 and 7 minutes and 24 seconds in 2023-24. The current response time is 7 minutes and 30 seconds.
Despite being the most populous state with 257.4 million residents, Uttar Pradesh leads the nation in the lowest ambulance response time. Rajasthan follows with a response time of 7 minutes and 57 seconds, and Kerala ranks third at 10 minutes and 45 seconds.
Jharkhand’s response time is the worst, at 16:02 minutes. After this, Arunachal Pradesh’s is 15:01 minutes, and Delhi’s response time is 13:31 minutes.
