Kathmandu, 18 August: If a person’s health suddenly deteriorates, there are elderly people at home, or a patient is unable to be taken to a hospital, there will now be no need to struggle to find an ambulance. Lalitpur Metropolitan City has launched a service under which an ambulance equipped with doctors and paramedics will reach the patient’s home within 15 minutes of receiving a phone call.
The service will not be limited to an ambulance. It will be staffed by doctors, nurses and other paramedics and equipped with emergency medicines, oxygen and necessary medical equipment. After reaching the patient’s home, the medical team will assess the patient’s condition and provide initial emergency treatment. If the patient needs to be taken to a hospital, the team will transport the patient to any hospital of their choice within the Kathmandu Valley.
The service launched by the metropolitan city is different from a conventional ambulance service. Its objective is not merely to transport patients to hospitals but also to begin necessary emergency treatment before the patient reaches the hospital.
According to Dr. Chhabindra Gaire, in-charge of the metropolitan city’s Health Emergency Operating System, six doctors and six paramedics have been deployed for the service. Two ambulances have been kept on standby, and both are equipped with ventilators.
“As soon as we receive a call about a health emergency, our team will be mobilized. We have set a target of reaching the patient within 15 minutes whenever possible,” Dr. Gaire said. “The doctors and paramedics will assess the patient’s condition at home, provide necessary emergency treatment and immediately transport the patient to a hospital if required.”
Three staff members have been assigned to receive emergency calls. Once a call is received, the patient’s health problem will be assessed and the relevant medical team will be informed immediately. A GPS system will be used to locate the patient’s home.
“We are trying to establish an emergency treatment hub,” Dr. Gaire said. “The metropolitan city aims to coordinate with the emergency departments of major government hospitals and establish an organized treatment system from the patient’s home to the hospital.”
To make the service more effective, the heads of the emergency departments of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Bir Hospital and Patan Hospital have been appointed as advisers. Doctors undergoing training in emergency medicine are also being prepared for deployment in the service as needed.
Concept of Emergency Health Service
Lalitpur Metropolitan City Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan felt that merely adding two ambulances would not be enough to provide effective healthcare and that the traditional practice of simply transporting patients to hospitals needed to change. The concept of providing emergency healthcare at patients’ homes was therefore introduced.
After the programme was approved by the metropolitan city’s ninth Municipal Assembly, extensive preparations were carried out regarding the development of operating procedures, human-resource management, ambulance readiness, technical systems and coordination with hospitals.
“This work is much more difficult to implement than it may seem,” Mayor Maharjan said. “Such a service cannot be operated with money and human resources alone.”
He said he had been inspired by a home-based ambulance programme providing doctors when he participated in an international forum.
“Such a service is limited to only a few countries in the world,” he said. “Although we had planned to launch the programme from the first day of Shrawan, it was delayed by a month due to preparations related to the operating procedures and other matters.”
Meanwhile, Lalitpur Metropolitan City officially launched its free ambulance service with doctors on Monday.
Inaugurating the service, Health and Food Safety Minister Nisha Mehta said that time is of the utmost importance in emergency healthcare.
“Every second is important for a patient,” Minister Mehta said. “Having a system in which doctors and health workers can reach people’s homes is an important service for citizens.”
She also said that the Ministry of Health was willing to cooperate with Lalitpur Metropolitan City in operating and expanding the service.
