Jharkhand set to launch maiden boat ambulance service

Jharkhand's first boat ambulance service is all set to roll out from Sahibganj district next week, an official said on Saturday.

The facility will help extend health facilities to over two lakh people living in Diara area, a stretch of land located near the river Ganga.

"Many panchayats are located across the river in Diara area. During monsoon, people living along the waterbody suffer due to the submergence of the area. The area almost becomes inaccessible.

“Several health programmes, including immunisation, come to a halt in the area during monsoon. So, we decided to introduce boat ambulance to provide health services to them," Sahibganj deputy commissioner (DC) Ram Niwas Yadav told PTI.

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The Sahibganj administration has procured two boat ambulances from the fund under the district mineral foundation trust (DMFT).

The boats arrived in Sahibganj on Friday. Each boat ambulance costs Rs 29.17 lakh.

"If we calculate the health facilities provided in the ambulance such as oxygen cylinder, ECG equipment, cabin for patients, lab technician and others, it would come to around Rs 48 lakh," he said.

The ambulances would officially be rolled out on May 15, the official said.

"One ambulance will be used in Rajmahal area and another in Sahibganj area. Except for AIIMS in Deoghar, there is hardly any health facility in the Santhal Pargana region. The boat ambulances would also be used to ferry patients to Purnia in Bihar and Malda in West Bengal in case of emergency," he said.

Currently if a person falls sick in Diara area, he/she is brought to the hospital by crossing the Ganga in a traditional boat, the official said.

The boat ambulance can carry six people.

Yadav said that the agency which has supplied the boats would take care of its operation and maintenance for the next two years. The driver and lab technician have also been made available by the agency, he said.

Sahibganj civil surgeon Dr Ramdeo Paswan told PTI, "There will be first aid, ECG, oxygen inhaler, flow meter in the boat ambulance.”

The boats will be GPS enabled and equipped with fire extinguishers and masthead lights for night navigation, an official said.

The Jharkhand government had recently launched an air ambulance service from Ranchi.