Ludhiana, January 17
On the lines of emergency telephone number 911 in the USA, which when dialed by person in distress prompts immediate relief in the form of police or ambulance backup, a private hospital here is in the process of providing similar facility through medical emergency service No. 1066 in this part of the country.

The service, presently available in Ludhiana, will soon be extended to the entire state, said Dr S.P. Singh, COO of SPS Apollo Hospitals here today.

Launched in association with BSNL, the service is currently restricted to medical emergencies, available through BSNL land-line phones.

But it will be accessible through mobile phones soon.

According to him, ambulances linked to the system are equipped with emergency first aid, life-saving drugs, ventilators and cardiac monitors, which will render preliminary treatment to the patient even before he reaches the hospital.

While the emergency rescue and immediate aid is free of cost, the patient will have to pay for follow-up care at the hospital.

“The hospital also plans to join the national network of emergency services, in which hospitals have to pay a fee to join the emergency service network. These hospitals will, however, need to meet certain guidelines like having ambulances equipped with ventilators, cardiac monitors, life-saving drugs and supporting staff. The emergency staff of the member hospitals will be trained by qualified professionals at the local hospital.”

Dr S.P. Singh further said: “Our objective is to break the myth that our hospital is expensive. We want to encourage people to get in touch with us without thinking twice, in case of emergency. As part of our effort to promote the image of the institution as a “friendly neighbourhood hospital”, we have recently started “Life Savers Programme”, in which doctors hold awareness and training camps for people. We train them on how to administer basic first aid and give them hands-on training on cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.”

The group is also conducting similar training programmes in various colleges of the city. “All these efforts have begun to bear fruit for the hospital, which receives an average of five calls every day, and the number is steadily going up,” Dr Singh added.

Ludhiana, January 17
To commemorate National Youth Day, Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib Charitable Hospital, here, will organise a blood donation camp on January 19. The camp, to be held under the aegis of the Directorate of Youth Services, Punjab, will be inaugurated by Bakshi Mohinder Singh, President of the hospital Trust.

Giving this information here today, Dr R.S. Sodhi, Medical Superintendent of the hospital, said the hospital had its own blood bank since 1995 which was approved by the Directorate General of Health Services and had capacity to store and preserve 300 units of blood besides having latest equipment for blood transfusion and carrying out screening against AIDS, HIV and other infections.