Ambulance crisis reduced at DMCH

Ambulance crisis at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) reduced a little yesterday as private ambulance owners started picking patients from there.

Since Monday, some five ambulances were providing services to patients, said a number of ambulance owners and drivers.

The ambulance crisis started at DMCH after four persons including a pregnant woman were killed when an ambulance ran them over near the emergency gate on Saturday.

About 70 ambulances used to remain parked on both sides of the road in front of the emergency gate. They left the area and stopped parking the vehicles there following Saturday's incident.

Din Islam Din, secretary of private ambulance service association at DMCH, said they were now parking their ambulances near Nursing College, about 300 yards away from the earlier place. They were rushing to patients' demands made in person as well as over the phone.

He further said at present they were hesitant about parking ambulances at earlier place, fearing police harassment.

Mohammad Hasan, relative of a patient who came from Narayanganj, said they needed to go to National Institute of Ophthalmology and Hospital in Agargaon as doctors referred their patient with head injury there.

“We called an ambulance which arrived within five minutes in front of the emergency unit. Then after a little bargaining we could rent the ambulance at a reasonable fare,” he said at DMCH.