Amidst the horrific picture of road accidents in the country, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is now going to make a big change in the direction of providing timely treatment (in the golden hour) to the seriously injured. NHAI has identified about 16 thousand kilometers of stretches in the 80 thousand kilometer long national highway network under its control where the possibility of accidents is highest. These also include 278 such places where it takes 20 to 30 minutes for the ambulance to reach after the accident. Now work has been started on a plan to reduce the ambulance response time at these places to 10 minutes.
NHAI Chairman Santosh Kumar Yadav says that highway safety cannot be limited to road construction only. Ensuring prompt medical aid after an accident has now become a priority. For this, a new system of ambulance network, live tracking and real time monitoring will be implemented on the highway. According to the Road Accidents in India-2023 report of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, more than 1.50 lakh road accidents occurred on national highways in the year 2023, in which more than 63 thousand people died.
Despite the low share of national highways in the total road network of the country, a major portion of deaths in road accidents are being recorded on these routes. In view of this danger, NHAI is now doing separate mapping of accident prone corridors. Special focus is being given to those areas where it takes more time for medical help to reach after an accident. According to officials, in many cases the injured person dies before reaching the hospital. Therefore, providing treatment within the golden hour is the biggest challenge.
Facility of live tracking of ambulance will be available
Under the new scheme, live tracking facility of ambulance will be started. This system will work like an app-based cab service. As soon as information about the accident is received, the control room and related agencies will be able to see where the nearest ambulance is, how long it will take and which route will be the fastest. This is expected to make the response system more transparent and faster.
- NHAI will also make strategic deployment of ambulances in accident-prone areas. Apart from this, work is also being done on real time monitoring of risk factors like fog, overspeeding and driving in the wrong lane. Digital monitoring and data-based safety management on highways are being made a part of the new road safety model.
The number of ambulances is being increased
According to data for 2023-24 from the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, there are 1,074 ambulances deployed on national highways. According to the ministry’s standards, one ambulance should be available every 50-60 km. On this basis, it is believed that 1,300 to 1,600 ambulances are required for the approximately 80 thousand km long highway network of NHAI. NHAI is working on this also. The ambulance is equipped with stretchers, more than 50 medicines and dressing materials, including IV fluids, emergency injections etc.