News
Indian ambulance service revving to go in two provinces
An ambulance assembled at a private factory here. Pix by Athula Devapriya
The government is going ahead with plans to start a new ambulance service by an Indian company, despite continuing protests by the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA).
The company is conducting interviews among locals for recruitment purposes, while the ambulances are being assembled at a private factory in Colombo and will be ready for use, soon, the Sunday Times learns.
A spokesman for the company, GVK-Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) said it plans to recruit around 550 Sri Lankans.
Human Resource Department Head, Sundar Mudaliyar said that there has been an overwhelming response to its advertisement calling for applicants.
He said initially the company plans to recruit 250 emergency medical technicians, 250 drivers and 50 emergency response officers.
He assured that except for a couple of Indians on the top tier of the company management, all other departments will be manned by locals. “It will be 100% Sri Lankans,” he said.
The service which is to start in the western and southern provinces will be extended to other provinces depending on its success, Mr. Mudaliyar said.
Meanwhile, the GMOA which is against the Indian company setting up a health facility in Sri Lanka charged that the company had been given ‘super powers’ and was recruiting personnel bypassing the Public Service Commission (PSC), which is the sole entity that is authorised to recruit personnel to the public sector.
The interior of an ambulance
Spokesman Aritha Aluthge told the Sunday Times that they do not understand where the company fits into the country’s health system. He explained that Sri Lanka’s health service has been structured in three compartments, treatment, prevention and the private hospitals system and that the Indian ambulance service does not fit into any of these categories.
Responding to charges, Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Dr, Harsha de Silva who has been supporting the venture vociferously said that it is a public and private partnership (PPP) venture between the Sri Lankan government and the world’s largest integrated ambulance service company that will provide quality service to the country.
He said, the people are being recruited on the basis that the venture would be given a trial period of one year and if it failed the project would be abandoned. “In that case what can we do with all those personnel if they were recruited by the PSC,” he asked.
He further explained that once the service gets underway in the two provinces the ambulances will be stationed at different locations so that people would have easier access to the service.
Dr. de Silva said that the country is in dire need of an efficient ambulance service as the local services were insufficient to cater to the needs of the people.
He said many people die on their way to the hospital and having an ambulance service with paramedics who could administer first aid and stabilize the patients on the way to the hospitals would save many lives.
He said the company would be under a joint Joint Commission headed by Director General of Health Services, Dr. Palitha Mahipala assisted by the Provincial Council Directors of health of the respective provinces.
The venture would also involve the Police Department, the government treasury, the external resources department, the Indian High Commission and two members of the GVK-EMRI company.
He said the ambulances, software and data would come under the Sri Lanka government.
He added this would be an opportunity for many local entrepreneurs to learn how to run an efficient ambulance service for business enterprises in the future.
| Give us more ambulances I will steer an islandwide service: Harsha Dr. Harsha de Silva last week asked enterpreneurs in the country to donate 200 ambulances to the Government to help expand the service in the country. Dr. de Silva called on the top 20 leading companies in the country to come forward and donate a minimum of ten ambulances each to help the government expand the Indian ambulance service to the other seven provinces. He said that the GVK-EMRI service would be in the western and southern provinces and if local entrepreneurs donated more ambulances the service could be expanded to reach critically ill patients in other provinces to get to hospital on time. He said even philanthropists could donate ambulances for this service. Mr. De Silva said those who wish to donate ambulances could write directly to him and that he would take the responsibility to steer an island wide ambulance service. |