It was a year ago that, a revolution happened in the state of Assam with the launch of the world class fleet of ambulances from GVK EMRI-108, fondly called Mrityunjoy. Now it has entered into the second year of service and has become a part of common man’s life. The people of the region mostly in the rural areas, never imagined that a round the clock five star category of emergency service would be readily accessible by dialing 108, that was to be free, was equally unbelievable. This service was made available to the people of Assam, upon signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) by the Government of Assam and GKV-EMRI on July 8, 2008, by using mobile, landline in case of emergencies like, medical, police and fire. After its inaugural launch by Assam’s chief minister on November 6, 2008, district launches were executed in a phased manner in all the 27 districts of the state. Now the people dial 108 using mobile or landline phones in case of emergencies. The process of providing emergency service to the people is very systematic and appropriate. Once a caller calls for help dialing 108, the call is answered by a communication officer stationed at the emergency response centre. After collecting; important details like the type of emergency, the address, the call is then escalated to the dispatch officer, who assigns and ambulance or fire brigade vehicle or police vehicle whichever is appropriate for the emergency. In its bid to benchmark with the world’s best in class GKV-EMRI has collaborations with several foreign organizations in the related service areas. Apart from handling the day to day emergencies it has also made progress in Emergency Research and Training. Till now it has attended 1, 97,232 emergencies and saved 11, 500 live. Also 950 births have taken place inside Mrityunjoy 108 ambulances. The ambulances base to scene takes time less than 20 minutes in urban areas and 30 minutes in rural areas. Scene to hospital takes time less than 25 minutes. GVK-EMRI is a non-profit organization with a Public Private Partnership (PPP) business model of which 95 percent of costs are funded by the respective state government. It has tie ups with over 6,800 private and government hospitals, to ensure immediate patient stabilization on admission to the hospitals. A completely free service, anyone, anywhere in the operational states can call the toll free number 108 for any emergency and help will reach them in an average of 15 minutes, in an urban area and 20 minutes in rural areas, subject to road conditions. The 108 is accessible from a landline, mobile phone, local telephone booth and can be dialed without any prefix or suffix. Ambulances are equipped with medical equipments ranging from defibrillators and ventilators, to extrication tools, to handle almost any emergency situation. When a caller dials108 to report an emergency, the call lands at the 108 emergency response centre where the call taker gathers the necessary information, regarding the type of emergency and the location of the emergency scene-where the caller calls from. After gathering the information either the ambulance, fire vehicle or the police, is dispatched depending on the type of emergency. The emergency medical technicians in the ambulance and emergency response centre physicians and will provide free pre-hospital care in the ambulance while transporting the victim to the nearest hospital of his choice. 108 handles all kind of medical emergencies, like acute abdomen illness, respiratory disorders, asthma attacks, heart attacks, suicide related, pregnancy related, road accident cases etc. 108 also handles police emergencies like theft, bodily offence, property offences. Etc.
16 Jul 2011 - 2:22pm | Jayanta Kumar Das
'Yatra',a book on travelogue was recently released by Dr. Laxminanadan Borah, former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha here at Bishnu Rabha Kristi Sangha premises very recently at Udalguri.The book...
13 Dec 2014 - 8:09am | AT News
ULFA’s anti-talk faction threatens to target NHPC if it resumes the mega dam construction at Gerukamukh. In a statement, the militant outfit’s vice president Paresh Asom said that they would not...
27 Aug 2011 - 9:27pm | Jayanta Kumar Das
The Udalguri police has taken up an exceptional step to counter extremist threats by boosting morale of the effected people in the district. Such a villagers meet was arranged at Bongaon Hirapara...
Gamusas and Japis are two important items in Assam, which are in much demand throughout the year in the state especially during festival seasons and social functions. These items are demanded by the people to honor the guests and honorable persons during each and every event. However, it has been found that throughout the festival seasons the supply of locally woven gamusas are not according to demand by the customers. The reason behind it is said to be heavy cost of the locally produced items. On the other hand the weavers and traders from other parts of the country take advantage of supplying gamusas at cheaper rates and make more profit despite spending heavy cost on...
Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati circle, has been trying to take-up the work of repairing of a broken pillar in the Mandap of Hayagriva Madhav Temple at Hajo for a long time. ASI, Guwahati has informed the media through a press note that one of the pillars of ancient temple was broken in three parts due to rusting of the iron dowels holding each other and the other developed cracks due to the same reason and widened more after the earthquake of May 2015. Hayagriva Madhav Temple is a reconstructed temple during the Koch period. The architectural parts of the earlier temple have been used for reconstruction. Different parts of the temple have been used randomly for making the pillars...
There is a generation gap between the signing of Assam Accord on the Independence Day 1985 and the present generation has to face new challenges to compete with the world class people in all spheres of development. The young people are confused over the airing of old issues which have lasted for long 31 years in absence of any solution. The issues pertaining to the Accord have become irrelevant under the present circumstances. The Assam Accord issue is still haunting and confusing the present generation due to absence of a clear picture. The fate of the Accord is not known to the people in general. A few politicians and intellectuals are trying to raise the issues of the accord from time to...
It is an established fact that a person involved in political activities cannot remain in peace till his cherished dreams are fulfilled. This can be noticed through the recent statements of former Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, who has been expressing his views frequently in media against the four months old BJP-led alliance government in the state under the chief minister ship of Sarwanand Sonowal. He (Gogoi) dares to demand a ‘white paper’ from state government about the steps taken by it to clear the encroachments of forest and other government lands in the state and also to let the people of the state know, what action it has taken to identify and deport the foreign...
Addressing a huge gathering of residents of Udaypur, Jonakpur and Birubari at Udaypur Kali Mandir complex on Sunday, July 3, 2016, East Guwahati Assembly Member, Siddharth Bhattacharjee, emphasized the need of implementing the vision document of development as envisaged by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking at the function organized by Udaypur Yuva Sangha to felicitate him on his success in the recently concluded polls to the state Assembly, he conveyed his thanks to the people of the area for showing their confidence in him. He assured the people that he would not let their confidence go in vain. The meeting was presided over by Dr Phani Borah. Senior citizen of the locality Kartik...
Hardly a few days ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Alliance has taken the reign of Assam administration the results of efforts made by Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi to bring back black money to the state coffer, has started recently with the arrest of Dhemaji Divisional Forest Officer, Mahat Chandra Talukdar by anti-corruption department. For a long time the reports of wildlife crimes were in the air, but the previous state administration ruled by Congress Party under the three-terms leadership of Tarun Gogoi did not try to take any action. The former Chief Minister Gogoi was under a wrong impression that the people who gave him a...
A study conducted by B Boruah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, has revealed that during a decade from 2001-02 to 2011-12, cancer cases in the north-eastern part of the country have gone up from 5,404 to 8,708. A campaign, namely, Cycle 4 ride can help control this dreaded disease. In order to raise awareness to fight cancer a lady, namely, Marcellna Sangma, is going to lead a Biker Mission to 600 kms long stretch from Guwahati to Bum La Pass, near Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh. The ride is scheduled to be flagged off by Dr Amar Chandra Kataki, Director, B Boruah Cancer Institute, on April 21, 2016.Expressing her traumatic experience with cancer, Sangma, who was a cancer patient a decade...
Being disturbed since the first phase of polling for Assam Assembly on April 4 last, the Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi is finding it difficult to remember the history of Assam agitation propelled by All Assam Students Union (AASU) since the year 1979 to the Independence Day of 1985, resulting in the Assam Accord which was signed between the Assam Government and the movement leaders in presence of erstwhile prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Heavy polling beyond 85 percent of the electorate in the second phase also made Gogoi to think over the majority of young and new voters were not the ‘beneficiaries of getting blankets, yarn and mosquito nets’. They are young, energetic, literate and...
Continuing campaigns for Assam Assembly elections have confused the Assam intellectuals to raise vital issues before the future state legislators and improve the quality of political atmosphere affecting the entire society for quite some time. Almost all political parties have started ‘derogatory’ comments against their rivals for attracting the electorates by their acts and objectives about which they are themselves ignorant. The main reason behind such interpretation is lack of knowledge about the real issues on which the political parties are campaigning. Assam as a state of multi-lingual and religious people continued to be disturbed since the year1979, when several organizations under...
Long awaited North East Graduate Congress, an initiative of Education Research Development Foundation (ERDF) is going to be held from February 26 to 28, 2016. This is the only graduate congress in India being organized by University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) in association with RIST and supported by the State Bank of India (SBI). The venue of the congress is the USTM campus at 9th mile, Khanapara. Addressing the media persons in Guwahati on February 14, 2016, the USTM spokesperson informed that the three days congress is aimed to enhance all round development and bring out the capabilities of future graduates through various life skill processes to bring out their...
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