look news india
A very big and revolutionary news is coming out from the health sector of Jharkhand. Hemant Soren government is working on an unprecedented plan to make emergency medical services in the state more hi-tech and timely. Now in Jharkhand, patients or their families will not have to wait for hours for an ambulance, nor will they have to worry about busy phone lines. The state health department is now going to make the ‘ambulance service’ completely digital and centralized on the lines of the business model of big cab aggregators like Ola and Uber. As soon as this technology is implemented, an ambulance will be present at the patient’s doorstep with just a single click on the smartphone.
What is the Ola-Uber model of Jharkhand government and how will it work?
According to top officials of the Health Department, under this ambitious scheme, ambulances of government (108 ambulances), private and various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) running across the state are being linked to a common digital platform and mobile application. As soon as a patient requires an ambulance, he will enter his location and send a request through this app. The advanced algorithm of the app will instantly track the nearest available ambulance to the patient and dispatch it to the spot immediately. In this, the patient will also have the facility of live tracking, through which he will be able to see at what distance the ambulance is and in what time it will reach.
Patients will get new life in ‘Golden Hour’, response time of ambulance will reduce.
In medical science, the ‘Golden Hour’ i.e. the first hour of an accident or illness is considered most important for saving the life of the patient. In rural and remote hilly areas of Jharkhand, ambulances often did not reach on time due to network problems or lack of correct location. But with the advent of this new technology, the response time of ambulance will reduce drastically. With the help of GPS navigation, ambulance drivers will be able to reach the patient directly through the shortcut route without deviating, due to which the lives of seriously ill or road accident victims can be saved by taking them to the hospital at the right time.
There will be a complete ban on arbitrary fares and looting.
It is often seen that taking advantage of the emergency situation, some private ambulance operators charge arbitrary fare from the family members of the patients. With this digital model of government, this entire looting will be stopped forever. The fare will be pre-determined according to distance within the app itself, which will bring transparency. Apart from this, a hi-tech ‘Control and Command Centre’ will be created at the district level for round-the-clock monitoring of all ambulances, which will be directly connected to the state headquarters. If any driver is negligent in duty or deviates from the prescribed route, immediate action will be taken against him through digital medium only.
Picture of rural areas of Jharkhand will change, big step in digital health
This scheme is being considered a milestone for the health infrastructure of Jharkhand. In the first phase, it will be started as a pilot project in big cities like Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro, after which it will be rapidly expanded to all 24 districts and rural health centers (CHCs) of the state. The health department will also continue to run this app as well as a toll-free emergency number, so that people who do not have a smartphone can also avail this hi-tech service. With this step of the government, Jharkhand will not only move forward in the digital health sector, but will also provide a very affordable and reliable health cover to the general public.
