VIJAYAWADA: The Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) is all set to cover the entire population of Krishna district under its emergency `108' ambulance service from the first week of April.

In addition to the existing services, the 108 ambulances of the EMRI will be introduced in 16 towns in the district from April 4. The people of these 16 towns will be able to access the same matchless service of the EMRI that has been available for long in Vijayawada.

The places where `108' would be newly introduced soon are: Jaggayyapet, Ibrahimpatnam, Mylavaram, Kankipadu, Vuyyur, Gannavaram, Nuzvid, Vissannapet, Tiruvuru, Kaikalur, Avanigadda, Challapalli, Machilipatnam, Bantumilli and Gudivada.

Objective

At present, three ambulances Vijayawada and one each in Machilipatnam and Gudivada were responding to the emergency calls.

With the addition of new ambulances, the EMRI services would be linked to all the Community Health Centres in the district. The objective of the EMRI in starting its services in these towns is to provide and keep an ambulance ready round the clock for a cluster of 1.5 lakh people. .

EMRI zonal integrator J.V.S. Sastry told The Hindu on Thursday that 16 new `108' vehicles fitted with all the required emergency equipment would be ready for operations from April 4.

"This is being done in tune with the organisational motto.

The basic aim is to reach out to all the people living in every nook and corner of the State. Krishna district will be fully covered soon," he said.

EMRI district coordinator M. Sudhakar said that the `108' services already introduced in the city had a good response, with people immediately calling up the three-digit number without hesitation in case of any accident or medical emergency.

The EMRI zone covering Krishna, West Godavari, Guntur and Prakasam districts would have nearly 85 ambulances in the coming days to cover the whole population.

The need for expanding the services was felt in view of the presence of a criss-cross of National and State highways in these coastal districts.

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