Slow-traffic blow to critical care: Hospitals in Kolkata take guard
Times of India | 14 July 2025
Kolkata: Several city private hospitals have initiated measures to ensure that critical patients can reach on time during this rainy spell. Often unavailability of transport and traffic snarls result in delayed arrival of the patient at the hospital. This may turn out to be fatal.
The hospitals have deployed ambulances at strategic locations across the city. They have roped in more clinical staff at emergencies for a longer duration. Online or telephonic advice for patients, who suffered a heart attack, brain stroke, or severe injuries, are also being offered. Doctors claimed that often heart attack or brain stroke patients fail to reach the hospital within the ‘golden hour' (within an hour of the attack), which turns out to be decisive.
Charnock Hospital has launched a dedicated ambulance service between the VIP Road and Chinar Park crossings. A special patient pick-up point has been set up at VIP crossing to ensure swift transfers to the emergency department. The ambulances are equipped with advanced life support. "In critical cases, every minute matters," said Prashant Sharma, managing director, Charnock Hospital.
Due to incessant rain and increased traffic congestion over the last week, many patients complained of either facing an acute shortage of ambulances or getting stranded in traffic for extended hours, said BP Poddar Hospital group advisor, Supriyo Chakrabarty. "We instructed all our ambulances to remain active round-the-clock. Additionally, we tied up with external providers to deploy two more Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances to ensure a faster response during emergencies. Since these are equipped with life-saving equipment along with an emergency medical team, treatment starts immediately," said Chakrabarty.
A few days ago, BP Poddar Hospital received a call from a patient's relative who was on the way to the hospital with a suspected cardiac arrest. "They were coming from Kolaghat but got stranded near Dhulagarh due to congestion. We immediately mobilised our ACLS ambulance, which got the patient on board near Santragachi. The patient later underwent primary angioplasty around 2 am at our hospital," said Chakrabarty.
Manipal Hospitals deployed a fleet of over 30 fully-equipped ambulances across the city, each staffed with trained emergency technicians and doctors, said Ayanabh Debgupta, regional COO – Manipal Hospitals (East). At Narayana Hospital, Howrah, a round-the-clock ALS ambulance service was arranged with consultant and paramedic support for the smooth transition of emergency patients. "The ambulances are equipped to handle cardiac, neuro, and other emergencies. We also have a special Acute Care Unit in the emergency department to deal with critical cases," said Tapani Ghosh, facility director, Narayana Hospital, Howrah.