108 ambulance provider reports 50 pc dip in road accident cases

The GVK EMRI ambulance service attends to more than 200 emergency cases in Tamil Nadu on a day. 

Of which about 25 per cent account for road accidents. In 2020, the cases dropped significantly and the total number of cases dropped to less than 1 per cent on a daily basis. 

“With the lockdown in place, over 70-80 per cent of cases were COVID-related emergencies and accident cases were less. Road traffic accidents reduced immensely and we had days with no traffic accidents at all. There were emergency cases of falls, illnesses and injuries at home,” said Balaji Premnath, marketing head at GVK EMRI. 

The surge in COVID cases led to a demand for more ambulances in the State. “More than 150 emergency service provider vehicles were added to our existing fleet. We also added to our volunteers and emergency staff,” added Balaji. 

The officials at GVK EMRI said the number of patients requesting inter-facility transfers had increased. 

“The number of people requiring inter-facility transfer increased due to COVID. The patients requesting hospitalisation opted for government hospitals over private ones,” said Selva Kumar, head of operations at GVK EMRI.