Sri Lanka starts emergency paramedic service backed by India

[Gibbs]

Good to see India atleast attempting to include rest of Sri Lanka other than it's north for bilateral initiatives..

Sri Lanka starts emergency paramedic service backed by India | Economynext

AMBULANCE: The interior of an Indian made Tata ambulance with stretchers and oxygen cylinder visible. The vehicle is also has a defibrillator and other equipment.

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka is starting a paramedic response service with the backing of India that will see accident victims and those needing life-saving medical treatment being stabilized and brought to hospital within 30 minutes officials said.

Secretary of Sri Lanka's Health Ministry Palitha Mahipala said the country had very good health indicators and tax payer funded hospitals that gave medical care without fees but there was no paramedic service to give pre-hospital care.

"But we are still lacking in providing pre-hospital care," Mahipala said. "The patient needing emergency medical care has to find their own way to hospital."

Sri Lanka's free health care service was started by the British colonial administration with civil administrators under Governor North starting small-pox vaccination campaigns from 1802, a killer disease that wiped out populations in vast areas, keeping the population down.

Vaccinations were carried out from 1802, four year after Edward Jenner discovered the process which led to rapid increase in the population not only according to colonial records.

Pre-hospital care using 'paramedics' or 'emergency medical technicians (EMTs) started in the US and UK in the late 20th century and are operated by local authorities, fire departments and other bodies.

India is giving 7.5 million US dollar grant to start a paramedical service in the Western and Southern provinces of the island in the first phase, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y K Sinha said.

The project was initiated following a request by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after the visit if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mody to Sri Lanka in March and was under the supervision of Deputy Economic Policy Minister Harsha de Silva.

De Silva however was not present at the ceremony where the first ambulance was down as he was following Sri Lanka's election rules. The event was attended only by ministry secretaries.

He said 600 emergency personnel will be taken to India and trained to run the service by GVK Emergency Response Institute, a non-profit organization that is operating the service in India as a public private partnership.

A person calling the 119 emergency number in Sri Lanka will have the paramedics being dispatched to the address.

The techs will be in contact with a doctor and provide emergency treatment including oxygen and cardiac care so that the patient could be stabilized and taken to hospital within 30-minutes.

Ambassador Sinha said India also built a 150 bed hospital in Dickoya and 200 bed ward hospital in Vavuniya.

 

[kurup]

Completely agree .

India should work towards the development of entire SL rather than limiting towards the northern regions .

 

[Gibbs]

Strange but SL seemed to have Emergency medical service mobile units.. And have had them since 1906..Contrary to what was mentioned in the article

Emergency medical services in Sri Lanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. John Association for Sri Lanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Falck Lanka - Falck

But nevertheless good contribution towards the Health sector by the GoI.. Greatly appreciated

 

[nair]

India itself has to go a long long way on this field...... Indian response (it may vary from state to state) towards accidents is one of the worst in the world........

I am glad that we are helping our neighbors on this..........

 

[Srinivas]

Good initiative !!

 

[tuo padre]

We should teach basic emergency resuscitation methods in schools and colleges. That will go a long way saving a few lives.

 

[Godman]

Strange but SL seemed to have Emergency medical service mobile units.. And have had them since 1906..Contrary to what was mentioned in the article

Emergency medical services in Sri Lanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. John Association for Sri Lanka - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Falck Lanka - Falck

But nevertheless good contribution towards the Health sector by the GoI.. Greatly appreciated

I remember reading that the new service is different from then and will mainly cover rural areas but can't remember where I read it

Anyway some ambulances are already here

India gifts 88 ambulances to operate a free ambulance service

The Indian Government has gifted 88 ambulances for the maintenance of free ambulance services within Colombo and the Southern Province. The handing over of these ambulances took place in Colombo yesterday.

The presentation of these ambulances took place under the patronage of Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. These ambulances were handed over to Prime Minister’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.

The gifting of the ambulances took place in response to a request made by Sri Lanka to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was on a visit to Sri Lanka. The ambulance service will initially be operative in Colombo and the Southern Province.

The Government plans to operate this service in other areas too in the future. Action was initiated to impart training to employees who will be engaged in the ambulance service. Present at the ceremony to hand over the ambulances was a group including Health Services Director General Dr. Palitha Mahipala.

and some more info on the project

Lanka's first-ever emergency rapid response ambulance Project Unveiled‏ - Sunday Times

Sri Lanka’s first-ever emergency rapid response ambulance service was unveiled at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) today. This life-saving socially equitable service was initiated by the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Dr Harsha de Silva under the guidance of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka earlier this year.The service will be free for all Sri Lankans in every part of the island. The service will be provided using of a fleet of ultra-modern and fully equipped ambulances manned by trained paramedics and powered by the latest software through a central command unit. The service is timely and is in response to the considerable increase in medical emergencies related to sudden heart attacks, strokes and road accidents that require urgent and reliable emergency responses. Addressing the gathering, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health said that ambulance service would play a key role in strengthening the country’s pre-hospital health care and would impact the delivery of healthcare system in Sri Lanka. In his address, the Indian High Commissioner Y.K Sinha said that this ambulance service marked a unique point in Sri Lanka-India relations and that the Indian Government was pleased to participate with the Sri Lankan Government in endeavours such as this that benefits the people of Sri Lanka. He noted that the Government of India has come forward to fund the first phase of the project at a cost of US $ 7.6 million to serve the Western and Southern provinces starting with 88 ambulances. Mr Saman Eknanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister also addressed the gathering. He emphasised on the key role the ambulance service would play in saving lives by getting to any medical emergency within 30 minutes of it occurring. With this new service, a first world emergency medical care service level will now become a reality for all Sri Lankans. The entire island-wide project will be headquartered in Kotte and would provide employment opportunities for over 600 trained personnel in the first phase alone. Many believe that it will symbolize the public-private partnerships recommended in the Social Market Economy model that is expected to propel Sri Lanka as a socially responsible dynamiub in the region.

 

[[Bregs]]

Good initiative by India

 

[Gibbs]

I remember reading that the new service is different from then and will mainly cover rural areas but can't remember where I read it

Anyway some ambulances are already here

India gifts 88 ambulances to operate a free ambulance service

The Indian Government has gifted 88 ambulances for the maintenance of free ambulance services within Colombo and the Southern Province. The handing over of these ambulances took place in Colombo yesterday.

The presentation of these ambulances took place under the patronage of Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute. These ambulances were handed over to Prime Minister’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.

The gifting of the ambulances took place in response to a request made by Sri Lanka to Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was on a visit to Sri Lanka. The ambulance service will initially be operative in Colombo and the Southern Province.

The Government plans to operate this service in other areas too in the future. Action was initiated to impart training to employees who will be engaged in the ambulance service. Present at the ceremony to hand over the ambulances was a group including Health Services Director General Dr. Palitha Mahipala.

and some more info on the project

Lanka's first-ever emergency rapid response ambulance Project Unveiled‏ - Sunday Times

Sri Lanka’s first-ever emergency rapid response ambulance service was unveiled at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI) today. This life-saving socially equitable service was initiated by the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Dr Harsha de Silva under the guidance of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka earlier this year.The service will be free for all Sri Lankans in every part of the island. The service will be provided using of a fleet of ultra-modern and fully equipped ambulances manned by trained paramedics and powered by the latest software through a central command unit. The service is timely and is in response to the considerable increase in medical emergencies related to sudden heart attacks, strokes and road accidents that require urgent and reliable emergency responses. Addressing the gathering, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health said that ambulance service would play a key role in strengthening the country’s pre-hospital health care and would impact the delivery of healthcare system in Sri Lanka. In his address, the Indian High Commissioner Y.K Sinha said that this ambulance service marked a unique point in Sri Lanka-India relations and that the Indian Government was pleased to participate with the Sri Lankan Government in endeavours such as this that benefits the people of Sri Lanka. He noted that the Government of India has come forward to fund the first phase of the project at a cost of US $ 7.6 million to serve the Western and Southern provinces starting with 88 ambulances. Mr Saman Eknanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister also addressed the gathering. He emphasised on the key role the ambulance service would play in saving lives by getting to any medical emergency within 30 minutes of it occurring. With this new service, a first world emergency medical care service level will now become a reality for all Sri Lankans. The entire island-wide project will be headquartered in Kotte and would provide employment opportunities for over 600 trained personnel in the first phase alone. Many believe that it will symbolize the public-private partnerships recommended in the Social Market Economy model that is expected to propel Sri Lanka as a socially responsible dynamiub in the region.

Yes.. I think this would be a free service within the national health service.. But i wonder if St John's ambulances were free as well ?? Any idea ?

The benefits of this would be immense.. Especially in rural area's

 

[samv]

This is a great initiative by India.

However, there are a few caveats.

Roads in Sri Lanka are notoriously bad. The initiative would be pointless if roads are depolorable and there is no room for cars to move when the ambulance siren is alarmed. Unless the government of Sri Lanka institutes policies to improve traffic and the road network, the full benefits of this service will not be seen. Investment in public health involves many facets.

Secondly, INDIA MUST SEEK GUARANTEES FROM THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT that none of its donations will be used as political tools or for political propaganda. The ruling United National Party has a long history of abusing state resources to achieve its own goals and they have already resorted to using foreign aid for the benefit of their election campagn.

India must tell Ranil Wickremasinghe and his cronies that there will be no such aid until he guarantees - through writing if necessary - that none of these ambulances, buses, credit lines, or donated buildings will be used for any political campaign. This should cover all political parties in Sri Lanka.

If India is to help Sri Lanka, then it should help the Sri Lankan people and not Sri Lankan politicians and political parties.

 

[Echo_419]

Good to see India atleast attempting to include rest of Sri Lanka other than it's north for bilateral initiatives..

Sri Lanka starts emergency paramedic service backed by India | Economynext

AMBULANCE: The interior of an Indian made Tata ambulance with stretchers and oxygen cylinder visible. The vehicle is also has a defibrillator and other equipment.

ECONOMYNEXT - Sri Lanka is starting a paramedic response service with the backing of India that will see accident victims and those needing life-saving medical treatment being stabilized and brought to hospital within 30 minutes officials said.

Secretary of Sri Lanka's Health Ministry Palitha Mahipala said the country had very good health indicators and tax payer funded hospitals that gave medical care without fees but there was no paramedic service to give pre-hospital care.

"But we are still lacking in providing pre-hospital care," Mahipala said. "The patient needing emergency medical care has to find their own way to hospital."

Sri Lanka's free health care service was started by the British colonial administration with civil administrators under Governor North starting small-pox vaccination campaigns from 1802, a killer disease that wiped out populations in vast areas, keeping the population down.

Vaccinations were carried out from 1802, four year after Edward Jenner discovered the process which led to rapid increase in the population not only according to colonial records.

Pre-hospital care using 'paramedics' or 'emergency medical technicians (EMTs) started in the US and UK in the late 20th century and are operated by local authorities, fire departments and other bodies.

India is giving 7.5 million US dollar grant to start a paramedical service in the Western and Southern provinces of the island in the first phase, India's High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y K Sinha said.

The project was initiated following a request by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe after the visit if Indian Prime Minister Narendra Mody to Sri Lanka in March and was under the supervision of Deputy Economic Policy Minister Harsha de Silva.

De Silva however was not present at the ceremony where the first ambulance was down as he was following Sri Lanka's election rules. The event was attended only by ministry secretaries.

He said 600 emergency personnel will be taken to India and trained to run the service by GVK Emergency Response Institute, a non-profit organization that is operating the service in India as a public private partnership.

A person calling the 119 emergency number in Sri Lanka will have the paramedics being dispatched to the address.

The techs will be in contact with a doctor and provide emergency treatment including oxygen and cardiac care so that the patient could be stabilized and taken to hospital within 30-minutes.

Ambassador Sinha said India also built a 150 bed hospital in Dickoya and 200 bed ward hospital in Vavuniya.

Good intimate by the modo govt this will further improve our ties

 

[Godman]

Yes.. I think this would be a free service within the national health service.. But i wonder if St John's ambulances were free as well ?? Any idea ?

The benefits of this would be immense.. Especially in rural area's

I think St.John's is free as it is a volunteer organization but their services doesn't cover the whole country

 

[kurup]

This is a great initiative by India.

However, there are a few caveats.

Roads in Sri Lanka are notoriously bad. The initiative would be pointless if roads are depolorable and there is no room for cars to move when the ambulance siren is alarmed. Unless the government of Sri Lanka institutes policies to improve traffic and the road network, the full benefits of this service will not be seen. Investment in public health involves many facets.

Secondly, INDIA MUST SEEK GUARANTEES FROM THE SRI LANKAN GOVERNMENT that none of its donations will be used as political tools or for political propaganda. The ruling United National Party has a long history of abusing state resources to achieve its own goals and they have already resorted to using foreign aid for the benefit of their election campagn.

India must tell Ranil Wickremasinghe and his cronies that there will be no such aid until he guarantees - through writing if necessary - that none of these ambulances, buses, credit lines, or donated buildings will be used for any political campaign. This should cover all political parties in Sri Lanka.

If India is to help Sri Lanka, then it should help the Sri Lankan people and not Sri Lankan politicians and political parties.

Political Parties using public property is not nothing new ,

Above pictures may not be public property but to make the point clear .

On-topic : Once the vehicle get transferred , it becomes SLan property ... I don't think there is any collective ownership and running .

So what to do with it is upto the SLan govt. to decide .

 

[samv]

Political Parties using public property is not nothing new ,

Above pictures may not be public property but to make the point clear .

On-topic : Once the vehicle get transferred , it becomes SLan property ... I don't think there is any collective ownership and running .

So what to do with it is upto the SLan govt. to decide .

In the end, only more SLs will be disillusioned with India as they know India's behind the scenes move to prop up Maithripala Sirisena (besides funding, arming and training the LTTE, and pandering to extremist Tamil politicians from TN). That is why India's contributions should be apolitical.

 

[kurup]

In the end, only more SLs will be disillusioned with India as they know India's behind the scenes move to prop up Maithripala Sirisena (besides funding, arming and training the LTTE, and pandering to extremist Tamil politicians from TN). That is why India's contributions should be apolitical.

What is political in these moves ??

Do you think these ambulances will be used to treat people from only one party ??

If not what is political in them ....... and do you think India voted for entire SLan voters in the election and elected Sirisena ??