State’s ambulance emergency service on highways soon
Times of India | 14 July 2025
Kolkata: The state govt is implementing a new ambulance service on national and state highways, which one can avail by dialling 108, to assist trauma victims in reaching hospitals swiftly. The initiative will deploy 110 ambulances along highways, comprising 35 advanced life support units and 75 basic life support units.
The service aims to address the critical need for assistance during night-time accidents when help is scarce. These ambulances will be positioned strategically every 50km along national and state highways, with each unit serving a 25km radius for emergency medical services.
According to Subhanjan Das, director of Bengal's national health mission (NHM), this marks the first instance of NHM operating ambulances specifically for highway accident victims. "This ambulance service is an effort to save lives during the golden hour of injury. Thus pre-hospital care is the prime target to save lives of the accident victims, while they are yet to receive hospital care. For the speedy transportation of the highway accident victims to hospitals we have floated a tender to operate the service. These ambulances will help in quick transportation of the trauma victims.
" He noted that 40 ambulances belong to the health department.
Statistics show that there were 34,736 accident patients in 2024 and 15,356 patients until April 2025. Despite govt memorandums supporting ‘Good Samaritans' who assist accident victims, response remains limited due to concerns about legal complications.
A health official stated: "Decreasing mortality of the victims can be achieved only by appropriate post injury care. Deaths are caused as air or blood is trapped in the pleural cavity, airway passage along with intracranial hemorrhage, and acute blood loss following major fractures or injuries. The principle is to provide initial stabilization to the injured within the golden hour. The time between injury and initial stabilization is the most critical period in the patient's survival.
"The ambulances will have GPS and internet connectivity for traffic management and will maintain communication with emergency control rooms. Trauma care specialists will guide staff remotely based on injury severity. Specialised training is planned for handling trauma cases. Authorities are consulting cops, traffic personnel to identify accident-prone areas for strategic placement.