Dial 108 for emergency medical help

Thiruvananthapuram: The 25 ambulance vehicles that were pressed into service here under the Kerala Emergency Medical Services Project (KEMP) feature advanced life support systems and facilities to handle a range of medical emergencies.

Launched as a public private partnership scheme, the project uses state- of- the- art technology to monitor and control the fleet. A computerised emergency response centre has been set up on the Technopark campus. It utilises Voice Logger System, Geographic Information System (GIS) maps, Geographic Positioning System (GPS), automatic vehicle tracking and mobile communication system. A citizen can make use of the emergency service by dialling the toll free number 108. The ambulances will be parked at 25 hospitals across the district to provide round-the-clock pre-hospital service.

They are equipped with refrigerated medicines and sophisticated equipment like defibrillator, patient monitor, ventilator, foetal monitor, syringe pump, pulse oxymeter, battery-operated suction apparatus, nebulizer and oxygen cylinders to handle trauma, cardiac and labour emergencies. They also have rescue tools to cut open debris and extricate victims involved in a crash or fire.

The trauma equipment available in the ambulances