Absence of a policy on positioning of ‘108’ ambulances under the Arogya Kavacha scheme and them being parked on hospital premises and not in the vicinity of black spots (accident areas) has impacted the delivery of emergency medical service (EMS), said a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
The report on the general and social sector for the year ending March 2019, which was tabled in the State Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, said that stationing of ambulances in hospitals results in undertaking round trips and thereby impacting the response time.
“The ambulances are not stationed in a dispersed manner and instead, multiple ambulances are stationed at a single location,” it observed. There 746 active ambulances under the project. The government entered into a pact with GVK EMRI group to provide ‘108’ ambulance service in the State.
“During 2015-19, ‘108’ ambulances were involved in 453 accidents. However, these accidents were not investigated with a view to understanding the pre-crash activities of the persons involved and the circumstances contributing to the crash,” the report said.
Though the government has agreed to position ambulances by identifying black spots as was being done in Tamil Nadu, still many ambulances were located on premises of hospitals as it was feasible to provide basic facilities to the crew, the report said.
It said there were 20% and 22% vacancies in the posts of ambulance drivers and emergency management technicians, respectively. Shortage of staff had led to ambulances remaining off the road for many days.
Double payments by BDA
The report by CAG said owing to lapses in the Bangalore Development Authority, double payment of refunds were made to the tune of ₹8.55 crore in 307 cases. Though the BDA claimed that the entire amount except ₹12.11 lakh was recovered, it failed to produce recovery particulars for ₹1.14 crore, the CAG said.
