Poor Sunitha Khada (21) of Tikarpara in Koraput district, who was undergoing labour pain, was assured that she would deliver her baby safely despite her having failed to reach hospital in time. And a baby boy was born on the way to hospital on March 16, thanks to the 108 Free Ambulance Services.
This was the first such delivery conducted by the 108 Odisha Emergency Medical Ambulance Service (OEMAS) in the State. EMT Avinash Thatoi conducted the delivery in the ambulance itself, then cut the umbilical cord and soon took the mother and child to Nandapur PHC, Koraput. Both baby and mother are safe and healthy.
Under the Odisha Emergency Medical Ambulance Service (OEMAS) , this modern free emergency ambulance service was launched in the State recently in collaboration with Mumbai-based company Ziqitza Health Care ltd. The project is run in public-private partnership (PPP) mode and the service is available in 15 districts Angul, Bhadrak, Baleswar, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jajpur, Khurda, Keonjhar, Koraput, Mayurbhanj, Puri, Rayagada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh with a network of 280 fully-equipped ambulances in phase one.
“The poorest of the poor is assured of an emergency pick-up and drop at the nearest hospital,” says CEO, Ziqitza Health Care Sweta Mangal.
ZHl has currently more than 4,800 people working under the project in India and having already served more than 20 lakh people.