Only ambulance in Nabha block is without a driver

Karam PrakashTribune News ServicePatiala August 17It has come to the fore that golden hours of serious Covid patients were compromised in Nabha block of the district during the second Covid wave for want of ambulance drivers This was revealed during a recent meeting of senior medical officers which was held in connection with the preparations for the potential third waveThe medical officers concerned of Nabha raised the issue at the meeting They said they had a tough time arranging ambulances to shift serious Covid patients to major hospitals during the entire second wave of CovidGolden hours curtailed It was learnt that there was not a single ambulance driver in Nabha block A serious patient had to wait for over an hour for an ambulance to shift him to a major hospital Thereby the golden hours which increased the chances of survival were curtailedIt was learnt that there was not a single ambulance driver in Nabha block A serious patient had to wait for at least 15 hours for an ambulance to shift him to a major hospital Thereby the golden hours which increase the chances of survival were curtailedSources said health officials had to call 108 ambulance service which is an emergency response service of the Health Department to shift patients to either Government Rajindra Hospital or any other tertiary care centre Health officials in Nabha revealed that 108 ambulances took hours to reachNabha Civil Hospital has only one ambulance However there was no driver for it Dr Dalbir Kaur Senior Medical Officer Nabha said In the first wave we were allowed to hire drivers on the DC rate However there was no such provision during the second wave Consequently we faced difficulties in the second wave We had already informed senior health officialsShe added they somehow managed with the help of local NGOs In emergency our health staff drove the ambulance for patients she addedMeanwhile senior health officials said the issue would be addressed immediately