Covid 19 : 108 ambulance warriors felicitated for their work in Covid pandemic by BVG India in Pune
Pune, April 23 : Doctors, drivers, Biomedical Engineers and Fleet Managers among others of the ‘108 Ambulances’ played a crucial role during COVID-19 pandemic and their hard-work was recognised by BVG India Limited, which has been operating the Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services since 2014, at a special function.
Chairman and Managing Director of BVG India Ltd. Hanmantrao Gaikwad, former IAS officer and BVG India Ltd. Independent Director Chandrakant Dalvi, former IAS officer and BVG India Ltd. Independent Director Prabhakar Karandikar, Dr Prasad Rajhans (Chief Intensivist of Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of BVG MEMS- Dr Dnyaneshwar Shelke, Dr NagnathYempalle (Civil Surgeon-Pune) Dr Ramchandra Hankare (District Health Officer, Pune), and BVG India Ltd. – Dr Sharad Sabnis (Chief Administrative Officer), were present at the event.
34 employees were recognised for their outstanding work including District Managers, Zonal Managers, Fleet Engineers and Biomedical Engineers. Also on the occasion, three employees of BVG India Limited, who acted swiftly and saved precious lives after the recent bus accident in Khopoli, were felicitated by Hanmantrao Gaikwad.
Prabhakar Karandikar called for the introduction of dedicated ambulances for highways and expressways to reduce fatalities caused by road accidents.
“As far as the Medical Emergency Service is concerned, there should be separate, dedicated ambulances for Expressways and Highways as road accidents happen there. And then there should be separate ambulances for all other areas or categories. This will help in saving previous lives,” Karandikar, who helmed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation during his service days, said at the Aundh Chest Hospital.
Since its inception in 2014, BVG India has reached out to 1.04 crore patients across four states – Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh and Delhi.
Lauding the efforts of his employees, Gaikwad said, “I advise all my employees that they must treat the serving patients as relatives and with love and affection. I am extremely proud of the employees, who worked as a family during the period of COVID-19 and went out of their way while ensuring that prompt services were given to the needy.”
Dr Rajhans, who has been working in Medical Emergency Services since 1999, stated “It was my dream to have medical emergency services in this country and today the yeoman efforts taken by BVG India ensured that the dream has turned into a reality. There were discussions to have these services in Maharashtra since 2008, but that did not happen and finally, it was initiated in 2014.”
He suggested the use of Helicopter Ambulance Services and the effective use of artificial intelligence and drones.
Chandrakant Dalvi recalled that the Swine Flu pandemic highlighted the need for dedicated medical emergency services. “The medical emergency services is the crown for BVG India Limited,” he said.
Dr Dnyaneshwar Shelke said BVG India through the Medical Emergency Services has impacted 1.04 crore patients and indirectly served four crore people.
“In the COVID-19 period, we served six lakh patients. We have also been serving in the Kumbh Mela, the annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur and Ganesh festival processions. Also during the COVID period, we enhanced the control room capacity by 50 per cent, which allowed operation of more ambulances in cities like Pune, Mumbai and Thane,” he conveyed, adding that it is a shining example of a successful public-private partnership.
Arvind Agarwal of the Rebirth Organ Donation Trust highlighted the importance of donating the organs.
BVG currently operates 937 ambulances in Maharashtra, which include Basic Life Support ambulances and Advance Life Support ambulances. Since 26th January 2014, MEMS ambulances have served about 85 lakh patients and around 38,000 deliveries have been assisted in the ambulance by the ambulance team of MEMS.
