Medical Emergency Ambulance Services Kerala - 108

Health Department of the Kerala Government has launched the Kerala Emergency Medical Services Project (KEMP), a project supported by National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) to render emergency medical service to those who meet with accidents, health emergencies and disaster related mishaps.

Doctors and Police Officers will be assisting the agents in the KEMP Call Centre. The 18 seater call centre has two ISDN lines to manage 30 incoming calls. The Automatic Vehicle location and tracking software is equipped with GPS, GIS & GPRS Network to enable immediate response to a distress call.These advanced life saving ambulances have the latest equipments like ventilator, defibrillator with monitor, foetal monitor, etc. to tackle all kinds of emergencies including cardiology and pregnancy related problems. Each ambulance is priced at Rs 32 lakh and have Modern trauma equipments like auto loading stretcher and scoop stretcher are also available to handle the person at the accident site to avert further injuries. The service of a trained emergency medical technician will be available in this ambulance which confirms to the CEN1789 European Union Standards for medical transportation vehicles.

KEMP is a pilot project in Thiruvananthapuram district with a fleet of 25 advanced life saving ambulances covering the rural and urban areas of the district. This pre-hospital Emergency Service is accessible to all the people through a 24x7 toll free number 108. When a call is received, the nearest ambulance will be located by the control room and will be dispatched immediately to the location with the help of the information provided by the caller and with Geographical Information System.

The Mumbai-based Ziquitza Healthcare is providing all the services for this emergency care, including the deployment of the staff and their salary. Ziquitza was selected by the government for out-sourcing through a tender process.According to Pradeep Kumar, Chief Engineer, NHRM, the project is being launched at a cost of 10 crores. The NHRM will bear 60% of the operational cost and the remaining 40% by the Kerala Government. With the commissioning of KEMP, Kerala will become the first state in the country to have a state-owned emergency service provider for trauma care victims.