Ambulance Service: 108 Ambulances Still Out Of Reach, Patients Take E-rickshaws, Autos To Reach Hospitals, Health News, ET HealthWorld

Ludhiana: With ‘108’ Ambulance drivers remaining on strike for the second consecutive day, a large number of patients had to bear the brunt and make arrangements on their own, which turned to be a costly affair.

Importantly, the situation might remain the same as the 108 Ambulance Employees Association decided to intensify the agitation if they don’t get an appointment to meet the Punjab chief minister. On Thursday, the drivers of the ‘108’ ambulance service had gone on strike and staged a protest at the Ladowal toll plaza.

Association members said if they don’t get time to meet the CM, they will block the toll plaza road after 12 noon on January 15. Their demands included scrapping of contractual system; merger with a government department; salary and allowances on the lines of Haryana; reinstatement of terminated employees; and 10 per cent increment.

Among patients who suffered the most due to the strike was 75-year-old Khila Ram of Ambedkar Nagar who had difficulty in breathing. As doctors at the civil hospital referred him to PGI Chandigarh, he along with his grand daughter Khushi kept waiting for 108 Ambulance. Later an ambulance by Samvedna Trust took the patient to the PGI.

Some of the patient came to the hospital in auto-rickshaws. Among them was Bhola Singh of Fatehgarh Mohalla who suffered injuries in the leg after falling off a roof while trying to catch a snapped kite. He reached the civil hospital in an e-rickshaw.