For a free ride, tricksters use ambulances with impunity
ALLAHABAD: If you ever wondered what ‘taking someone for a ride’ actually means here is ample example of it.
The ambulance services ‘102’ and ‘108’, meant for transporting pregnant women and emergency patients to nearest government hospitals, are being used by a group of street smart residents to get a free ride to their destination in the city. HT has found that the ambulances are being called to remote rural areas and drivers tricked to drop the callers to government hospital in the city — for private purposes.
While some drivers have reported these cases to the health department, a few who could sense foul play, have refused to give these fraudsters a ride. “Some cases of people wanting to take a free ride on 102 and 108 ambulances were reported to me by the drivers. I asked them to be extra cautious in these matters as genuine patients should not suffer,” said Allahabad’s chief medical officer Dr Alok Verma.
He claimed that over half-adozen such were reported in last six months, especially in transYamuna areas. “We cannot rule out the chances that drivers must be accepting some money to give a ride to rural residents. Since, the drivers claimed that they refused to take these ‘passengers’ we did not file written complaints,” said the CM O. The CM O also claimed that chances of misusing ‘102’ service is more as it would be risky for drivers to screen women patients. During Magh Mela earlier this year, three such cases were reported from Jasra and Kaudihar in trans-Yamuna area.
The remaining cases were from Kaundhiyara, Holagarh and Karchana. Meanwhile, during a recent review meeting, commissioner Ashish Goel issued directives to the CMO for proper monitoring of the free ambulance service launched under the National Ambulance Service Scheme. The UP government had also made it mandatory for ambulance drivers to get a copy of ID proof of patient or the attendant whom they provide free service.
The drivers will also have to maintain a log of the service provided to patients on daily basis. In government hospitals and health centres, a separate column would be added in the register.
“The ambulance driver takes ‘receiving’ (signature) from the patient’s attendant and also at the hospital or health centre where he drops the patients. This is done to monitor his services by the authorities. Sometimes, we also get complaints of drivers asking for money from patient’s attendants for taking the patient to hospital. We will conduct inquiry into the complaints and report the matter to the government,” the CMO added.
On an average, UP receives around 65,000 calls and 25,000 trips serviced on any day.