Ambulance drivers fearful
An unknown fear grips Azizur Rahman every time he comes out of his home in the morning. An ambulance driver for years, Azizur feels he might contract coronavirus anytime as he has to come in contact with different patients every now and then.
"We need to carry patients all the time. We don't know who already has it [Covid-19] … It's a scary time for us," said the man in his 50s. His voice cracked.
Employee of a private ambulance provider, Azizur wears mask and hand gloves and uses hand sanitiser while taking patients to hospitals and clinics in his vehicle. But he said these safety gears appear to be far from enough to protect him from the highly contagious coronavirus.
"We are in a grave risk. We too have families and children. They might be exposed to the virus as well. We are continuing to work even in this sensitive time. But if anything happens to us and our families, where will we go?" asked the father of three, urging the authorities to ensure their safety immediately.
Like Azizur, 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 gears.
The ambulance owners' association has requested the authorities to provide enough safety gears and necessary training to the drivers and their assistants amid the looming crisis. But it has not received any response yet.
According to the association, there are more than 7,500 private ambulances across the country.
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.
"We hear many talking about the safety of doctors and nurses, but no one is talking about the ambulance drivers and their assistants," Alamgir Hossain, president of Dhaka Mohanagar Ambulance Malik Somobay Samity Ltd, told The Daily Star.
Apart from the privately-run ambulance services, the country has nearly 1,000 ambulances at different public hospitals.
Talking on the issue, Prof Muzaherul Huq, a former adviser of WHO's South East Asia region, said ambulance drivers and their assistants are an integral part of health services.
Like doctors and nurses, they too should be provided with necessary safety gears. Otherwise, apart from the drivers and the helpers, others, including their family members and other patients, might contract the virus, he warned.
He also said the authorities should ensure dedicated ambulance services for carrying patients with coronavirus-like symptoms.
At least five people have died with and 49 tested positive for coronavirus in the country, warranting several steps by the government to contain spread of the deadly virus.
Although ambulance drivers are providing services in this risky situation, there were at least two instances where ambulance drivers refused to carry patients with corona-like symptoms, a leader of the association told this correspondent, wishing not to be named.
The Dhaka-based organisation of ambulance owners provides services across the country with its 2,080 ambulances. The services can also be availed by calling 999, a toll-free national emergency helpline run by the police.
In the absence of any national platform, the association maintains contact with other ambulance owners elsewhere in the country.
In a letter sent to the director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on March 22, the Somobay Samity sought training, awareness campaign and safety equipment for drivers and their assistants.
It said although ambulance owners and workers are ready to work along with the government to tackle the crisis, most of the drivers and their assistants lacked awareness on coronavirus.
The awareness and the equipment they have are not enough, it said.
If any ambulance worker gets infected and all know about it through any news report, it will be difficult to continue the services, it added.
"In the given situation, the government should urgently provide necessary training, sanitisers, masks and other safety gears to the drivers and their helpers."
Beside, the letter mentioned that an additional deputy inspector general of police, who is in charge of the 999 service, also recommended taking such measures.
"Seven days have passed, we have not got any response from the authorities," Sariful Alam Mehdi, an adviser to the Samity, told The Daily Star on Sunday.
In absence of any government support, ambulance owners provided drivers and their assistants with some masks, gloves, and sanitisers which is very inadequate, Mehdi said.
Drivers and their assistants, in many cases, have to help patients get on and off ambulances. Thus, they are at risk, he said.
If the government provides them with safety gears and necessary training, the risk will be lesser, he said.
"So, the government should seriously consider the demands," he said.
Alamgir, president of the Samity, said Grameen Bank promised to provide them with 2,000 personal protective equipment (PPE) and that they were hopeful about getting some those soon.
However, it would be inadequate, he added.
Contacted, Aminul Hasan, director (hospital) at the DGHS, said they would provide PPEs to all who are involved in providing health services, including ambulance drivers and their assistants.
Asked when they would start the distribution, he said, "We are sending PPEs to the government hospitals now … they would get PPEs shortly."
He said only ambulance drivers and assistants at government hospitals would get PPEs for now due a shortage of supply. "We will provide PPEs to private ambulance drivers and assistants when we will have enough stock," he told The Daily Star last night.
Meanwhile, demand for ambulance services declined sharply as a huge number of people left Dhaka after the government announced a nationwide shutdown from March 26 to April 4.
Alamgir said they usually received 10 to 12 calls every day, but now it has come down to five or six. "Demands for ambulance came down to 50 percent due to the shutdown," he said.
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