Health Transport- (108) and (102)

Due to its geographical conditions and tough terrain, Himachal Pradesh has a high accident rate in the country. Many other precious lives are lost and people suffer disabilities due to a lack of timely medical care including those for pregnant women, infants, and persons in acute emergencies like stroke, heart attack, poisoning, burn, and snake bites.

In view of the above, State started an Emergency Response System through PPP mode in the Year 2010, further these services were running after the due tender process and Concessionaire agreement dated 16-11-2016 with identified vendor GVK-EMRI further the concession agreement dated 16.11.2016 was executed for 5 years which came to an end on 14.01.2022 whereas to continue the scheme in the state new tender was floated for the operation and maintenance of NAS-108/JSSK-102 Ambulances in the State and the project assets has been handed over to the new identified agency M/s MEDSWAN FOUNDATION on 15.01.2022 after signing of the agreement on 17.12.2021

In total there are 248 ambulances on road under the fleet of National Ambulance Service NAS-108. Out of these, 35 Ambulances are dedicated to providing IFT (inter-facility transfer), which exclusively cater to referred patients from one hospital to another and are placed at strategically located hospitals. Presently there are 35 ALS and 213 BLS Ambulances in the fleet of NAS-108.

Due to plying of these ambulances the ambulances had worn out and as a result rendered condemnable and Beyond economical repair as per the Financial Department norms hence 46 such ambulances had been replaced in May–June 2019 and further 100 Ambulances have were replaced on rental mode after a due tender process in March and April 2020, therefore in total 20 more ambulances are to be replaced with the due course of time under the fleet of NAS-108

The ambulances provide free transportation to persons requiring immediate medical care along with the pregnant women and sick children to the nearest appropriate medical faculty.

In order to enhance the response time in the urban areas of Himachal Pradesh, 6 Bike Ambulances as the First responders have been initiated by the State.2 Bike Ambulances were started in Shimla Town on 02-04-2018 by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and 4 more Bike Ambulances each for Mandi and Dharamshala have been Flagged off by the Hon’ble Health and Family Welfare Minister to the Government of Himachal Pradesh on 06-10-2020.

Whereas keeping in view the tough geographical condition as well as hilly trains of the State , to maintain the response time of the ambulance services 50 New Ambulances were purchased by the state, earlier the strength of the ambulances were 198 and now after the addition of the 50 New Ambulances it has raised up to 248 in number so as to provide best first respondent services in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

This service can be availed through a Toll-Free Number 108 and is available round the clock and free of cost to all persons. The State has launched JSSK Drop back (102) ambulance service with a total fleet of 125 vehicles. The service was flagged off by the Hon'ble Chief Minister on 15th Nov'2014 and extended for 2 years on the same terms and conditions on 09-09-2019 further new concessionaire M/s Medswan Foundation is operating the services of JSSK-102 in the state of HP after the due tender process and agreement signed on dated 17.12.2021