The sector of Emergency Medical Service or EMS is of immense importance to the world at large.
Losing a loved one to illness or an accident is painful. However, what often stings even more, is the realization that they might have been alive today if medical action was taken swifter and more urgently.
Yes, especially in cases of strokes, breathing problems and life-threatening accidents, emergency medical services become extremely important. The patient’s life depends on how fast they can be brought under medical supervision and treatment.
Thus to act on fatal conditions of patients immediately and aptly is the need of the hour. One such great initiative in the EMS sector has been that of ‘Air Ambulances’.
So what exactly is an Air Ambulance? It is basically an aeroplane that is used to transport patients via air while offering urgent medical help. It is most beneficial in areas where regular air transport facilities aren’t available and when the patients need urgent intervention.
All in all, they work like traditional ambulances but with drastic differences. Yes, they’re suspended in air…but that’s not all. Air Ambulances possess entire medical set-up patient’s need. All essential equipment such as ventilators, ECG, medications etc are fully stocked. Well qualified team of doctors and specialists are on board with the sick at all times.
In busy towns where traditional ambulances take time to reach, air ambulances are much in value. When the patient suffers from a chronic ailment and there is no suitable cure in the near vicinity, they can be transported quickly to the destination possessing best possible treatment.
Moreover, some patients are in such adverse conditions that they cannot sustain long and difficult road-transportation. They pass away even while reaching the hospital. Air ambulances make the journey super fast and more comfortable.
Patients affected by fatal emergencies such as trauma or heart-attacks usually die within the first hour. This brief time-period is extremely crucial to capitalize on and is termed the ‘Golden Hour’. The air ambulances help patients achieve the best treatment possible within this golden hour thus saving lives.
With respect to India, the EMS sector, in general, has seen a boom in the last decade. There have been technological advancements in healthcare. Air Ambulances has been a major part of the upgrades in our country too.
In fact, especially for India, air ambulance services can be called an essential need. Why? Well, our country’s socio-economic development is an upwards journey growing in heaps and bounds each year.
With more affluent living standards, the citizens of India are buying more and more cars. With more cars on the road, the rate of accidents is also increasing. Emergency air ambulance services are a sure-shot boon to accident survivors.
Moreover, more cars mean more traffic. As such, it is commonplace in our country, for ambulances not making it in time. Air ambulances can ensure that at least a patient isn’t dying only due to road congestion.
Moreover, our country is immensely populated. Rural populations live in remote areas which often have no access to air-transport facilities. We also have the highest snakebite mortality in the world needing (30,000 every year by WHO).
Population and congestion are only slated to grow. Due to conditions like these and more, air ambulances in India thus become imperative.
‘Flying Doctors India’ by Medanta and Apollo Air Ambulances cover cities across India. Costs can range between approx 1.6-2.5 lakhs per hour. However, there is still a long way to tread.
The demand for air ambulances is currently not being fully met. Many cannot afford the costs. A lot of government policing and taxation issues are concurrent in the sector. Moreover, some areas don’t possess night-time landing facilities to provide 24*7 services.
Inventiva thus believes that the government should enable these life-saving services further. Necessary infrastructure for the same should be created on an urgent basis.
