New Delhi, June 29 -- Union Health minister J P Nadda on Monday released the operational guidelines for National Ambulance Services, which aim to establish uniform standards to ensure quality, accessibility, efficiency and responsiveness of ambulance services across the country, officials said.
The guidelines were released at the 16th Conference of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare.
Developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the ambulance services constitute the first critical link in the emergency medical response chain, providing pre-hospital care, patient stabilisation, safe transport and timely referral to appropriate healthcare facilities.
The guidelines provide a comprehensive national framework for standardising ambulance services and strengthening emergency medical transport systems across all states and Union territories, a ministry statement said.
The guidelines will lay down operational norms across the entire continuum of emergency medical transportation.
These include ambulance categorisation; population-based deployment planning; human resource requirements; equipment, medicines and consumables; training and skill standards for emergency medical technicians (EMTs); infection prevention and control measures; vehicle maintenance protocols; performance monitoring systems; and grievance redressal mechanisms, the statement said.
The guidelines also mandate compliance of all ambulances with the AIS-125 standards, ensuring enhanced safety, quality and standardisation of emergency medical vehicles, it said.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.