EMRI to launch emergency services in Gujarat

Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), a not-for-profit institute providing emergency management services in Andhra Pradesh, is all set to spread its wings to Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and, Jammu and Kashmir in the coming few months.

The institute is also looking at extending its two-year post-graduate programme in emergency care offered in Andhra Pradesh in collaboration with Stanford University to Gujarat.

Working through the PPP model, the company with financial support from Gujarat government is building an infrastructure that consists of a 10-acre land at Kathwada housing an emergency resource centre, call centre and training centre.

The institute is looking at setting up a network of 25 ambulances in the state in the first phase and will ramp it up to 400 in the next two years. The Gujarat government will pledge an amount or Rs 7 crore for the first phase and will invest approximately Rs 25 crore in the venture under the National Rural Health Mission.

EMRI's services would be available to those who dial the number 108 and include recording of the medical emergency, tracking the geographical area through GIS maps, sending an ambulance, administering first aid and medication to the injured or affected person enroute to the nearest hospital.

The ambulances are equipped with advanced medical equipment like defibrillators and ventilators to aid the patient during transportation to a hospital.

In case of police or fire emergencies local office of the state police or fire department would be immediately notified with full details. For patients taken to EMRI's collaborating hospitals, initial treatment would be free of charge.