Obstacles they scale to serve

It all changed after his father passed away.

Mehedi Hasan Rasel, after graduating from a leading public university, had joined a private job and earned a handsome salary.

But in 2016, when his father had a heart attack, he was unable to take his father from Savar to a better hospital in Dhaka due to a lack of ambulances. His father ultimately died.

"I then started an ambulance business. No one should lose their loved ones for the want of an ambulance. However, I am now having to face harassment for running this business," said Rasel.

After the Covid-19 outbreak, his landlord has been putting pressure on him to leave the house only because he runs the business and has to drive or carry patients during emergencies.

"My wife is a doctor. We have four children. We are very aware of safety and take precaution accordingly, yet we are being continuously harassed. Most days, he [the landlord] locks the gate before I come home and I have to sneak into the building," he said.

Rasel, proprietor Raha Ambulance Service, owns two ambulances; he provides one to Savar Upazila Health Complex to carry Covid-19 patients at a nominal charge, and operates the other ambulance with a partner.

According to Rasel, the only reason his landlord could not drive him and his family away from the building was that Rasel was involved in student politics and now has a strong base in his locality.

"But my ambulance drivers are suffering a lot. They have to sneak in and out of their homes. On many occasions, they cannot even take the ambulance out," he said.

Like Rasel and his drivers, many ambulance operators, their assistants, drivers and owners, who have been providing services for patients while risking their lives, are facing similar harassment at their homes and even public places like restaurants and petrol stations.

They said that that their landlords have been asking them to leave their homes or their jobs fearing they might spread Covid-19. In many cases, they have been denied food at restaurants and fuel at petrol stations.

Law enforcers also been harassing such drivers and their assistants when they are returning to Dhaka or going to other places with empty ambulances after dropping off patients, they alleged.

Besides, several thousand drivers and their assistants, who work at different private ambulance services, run the risk of getting infected as they don't have adequate safety gear.

The ambulance owners' association has requested the authorities to provide them with enough protective equipment and necessary training amid the looming crisis. But it has not received any response yet, association leaders said.

There are more than 7,500 private ambulances across the country, according to Dhaka Mohanagar Ambulance Malik Somobay Samity Ltd.

So, around 15,000 people -- at least one driver and an assistant for each ambulance -- are providing services to the people even in this tough time, it said.

Apart from the privately-run ambulance services, the country has nearly 1,000 ambulances at different public hospitals.

HARASSMENT

Azizur Rahman, an ambulance driver, on Tuesday called this correspondent over phone and said, "Brother, we [ambulance drivers and assistants] are now in big trouble, please do something for us."

This correspondent spoke to Azizur, an employee of a private ambulance provider, a few days ago and learnt about their safety measures while carrying patients.

Azizur began with a situation he faced. "When I was taking a patient to Bhola, I went to the canteen at a ferry on Mawa Ghat [now known as Shimulia ghat] for some food. But they declined to give me any when they came to know that I am an ambulance driver. What could I do? I just took a packet of biscuits."

He said many of his colleagues are facing similar discriminations and they even face problems while parking their vehicles.

"We are giving services to the patients knowing that we may get infected anytime. But what we are facing now is harassment."

Alamgir Hossain, president of Dhaka Mohanagar Ambulance Malik Somobay Samity Ltd, told The Daily Star on Tuesday that they have received around 50 complaints from ambulance owners and drivers that their landlords asked them to choose between their homes or their jobs.

"Law enforces ask them why they come out without patients, ignoring the shutdown. Even after our drivers say that they just left the patients at the destination and are now going back, they [law enforcers] keep them waiting for hours," he said.

Sariful Alam Mehdi, an adviser to the Samity, said the authorities in many districts do not provide the owners and drivers with the facilities to run the requisitioned ambulances, resulting in further problems.

About the safety of their staffers, he said they had written a letter to the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services on March 22, seeking training, awareness campaigns and safety equipment for drivers and their assistants.

"But we did not get any response yet. Initially, they assured us but now they are not receiving our phone calls," he alleged.

Mehdi, however, said Grameen Fabrics and Fashion Ltd has provided them with 500 Personal Protective Equipment while Manusher Jonno Foundation provided 100.