Amphibious ambulances to help people in flood-hit areas

According to Darez Ahamed, Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), “The ‘Amphibious’ ambulance is basically a sort of tank which can be useful during floods. 

Even if the water levels are high, the engine won’t be affected.” Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said that since 2015, IITM has been working on the design of the ambulances.

Following the 2015 floods, Cyclone Vardah, and the rains that affected the state in last two weeks, the state government has realised the challenges in trying to reach sick persons, as well as pregnant women, in heavily inundated areas.

Subsequently, IIT-M, which has been helping the Health department with Universal Health coverage and pregnancy monitoring, started working on an amphibious ambulance to help the government handle trauma care during floods. “During the 2015 floods, the state realised that while the ambulances worked overtime and delivered exceedingly well, there were challenges in areas that were deeply inundated. Therefore, the development of amphibious ambulances would be a very big shot in the arm in rescuing pregnant women and sick people. IIT-M has since then been working on a design,” said Health Secretary, J Radhakrishnan.

While the concept was a brainchild of IIT-M, it is to be based on the concept of the same used during the World Wars. “The ambulance is basically a tank which can be used during the floods. Even if the level of water is high, the engine will not be affected, ensuring that it can reach pregnant women and the sick, who are in dire need of care,” said Darez Ahamed, Mission Director, National Health Mission.

Stating that the work was initiated in the beginning of 2016, after challenges were faced during the 2015 floods, he said, “The chassis will be bigger. The process of bringing it has involved a lot of trials and errors and it is in the final stage of trial now. Though the work began over a year ago, it has been taking time as there has been a lot of iterations involved.” It may be noted that it is the first of its kind in the country.

The Director of the Institute, during a Trauma Care Workshop organised by the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI), Government of Tamil Nadu, jointly with National Trauma Research Institute, Australia and IIT-M, on Friday, said that the ambulance will be launched in four to five months.

With Tamil Nadu known to have a very high number of Road Traffic Accidents (RDA) -- in 2013, the state recorded 15,563 fatalities in the 14,504 recorded accidents -- there is an urgent need for efforts to be taken by the government to meet the target of Sustainable Development Goal, to halve the number of global deaths due to RDA, by 2023.

Stating that the Madras Medical College will soon be a part of the Australia India Trauma System, Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar, on Friday, said that the state government will strive to achieve the goal well ahead of the deadline.