Emergency response ambulance service unveiled for the first time in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s first-ever emergency rapid response ambulance service was unveiled at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute recently. The service will be free for all Sri Lankans in every part of the island.

The service will be provided using of a fleet of ultra-modern and fully equipped ambulances manned by trained paramedics and powered by the latest software through a central command unit. The service is timely and is in response to the considerable increase in medical emergencies related to sudden heart attacks, strokes and road accidents that require urgent and reliable emergency responses.

This life-saving socially equitable service was initiated by the Deputy Minister of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs Dr. Harsha de Silva under the guidance of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka earlier this year.

An ambulance was on display at the event giving everyone present the opportunity to view the vehicles to be used to provide world-class emergency medical care.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Palitha Mahipala, Director General Health Services at the Ministry of Health said that ambulance service would play a key role in strengthening the country’s prehospital health care and would impact the delivery of healthcare system in Sri Lanka.

In his address, the Indian High Commissioner Y.K Sinha stated that this ambulance service marked a unique point in Sri Lanka-India relations and that the Indian Government was pleased to participate with t he Sri Lankan Government in endeavours such as this that benefits the people of Sri Lanka. He noted that the Government of India has come forward to fund the first phase of the project at a cost of US $ 7.6 million to serve t he Western and Southern provinces starting with 88 ambulances.

Saman Eknanayake, Secretary to the Prime Minister also addressed t he gathering; he laid emphasis on the key role the ambulance service would play in saving lives by getting to any medical emergency within 30 minutes of it occurring. He said that the project, already active in India, has saved hundreds of lives in emergency situations there and expressed hope that it would do the same here. He pointed out that as a project, it marked the highest level of co-operation between the two governments.

Prof Kithsiri Liyanage, Secretary to the Ministry of Policy Planning and Economic Affairs was also present at the occasion.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and Deputy Minister Harsha de Silva were not present at the event in keeping with election laws of not attending state functions.

With this new service, a first world emergency medical care service level will now become a reality for all Sri Lankans. The entire island-wide project will be headquartered in Kotte and would provide employment opportunities for over 600 trained personnel in the first phase alone. Many believe that it will symbolize the public-private partnerships recommended in the Social Market Economy model that is expected to propel Sri Lanka as a socially responsible dynamic economic hub in the region.