India News | Response Time of Delhi Govt's CATS Ambulance Service Improves

New Delhi Aug 21 (PTI) The response time of the CATS ambulance service has improved from 55 minutes in mid May to 18 minutes now as the Delhi government has increased the number of such vehicles to 594, according to an official statement.

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"As per the chief minister's instruction, patients are being admitted within 10 minutes of reaching hospital by ambulance," the statement said.

"Kejriwal instructed for serious patients to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible. After continuous persuasion of the Delhi chief minister, the number of CATS ambulances increased significantly in Delhi. Till May 15, Delhi had 160 CATS ambulances which increased to 594 by August 10," it said.

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The decision has helped in the reduction of the response time of the CATS ambulance.

On May 15, the response time of CATS ambulance service was around 55 minutes which reduced to 18 minutes by August 10, the statement said.

"Delhi's COVID-19 situation was tough in June as the number of patients and deaths due to the virus were on the rise. After discussions with medical experts, Kejriwal directed the officials concerned to improve the response time of CATS ambulances as soon as possible," it said.

The number of CATS ambulances steadily increased from 160 on May 15 to 337 by June 1, 569 by June 30 and 594 by August 10, it said.

"The Delhi chief minister also ensured that with the increase of the number of CATS ambulances there should be an increased capacity of receiving calls for the ambulance," the statement said.

There were 20 phone lines for the ambulance service on May 15, which were increased to 25 by June 1 and 30 by June 30.

At present, the Delhi government has the capacity of receiving calls in 30 systems, it said.

"On May 15, the number of calls attended by the CATS ambulance services was 750, the fleet status was 160, the lines connected were 20, and the response time was 55 minutes. The number of calls refused was 222. On August 10, the number of calls attended by CATS was 945, the fleet status was 594, the lines connected were 30, the response time was 18 minutes, and no calls were refused in this month," it added.

There has been a three-fold increase in the number of ambulances in the national capital and the response time has come down by 37 minutes, the statement said.

On May 15, the response time of CATS ambulances was recorded around 55 minutes, which came down to 42.58 minutes on June 1. By June 30, the response time came down to 34.25 minutes and further 18 minutes by August 10, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)