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Dial 1298 for Ambulance Newsletter November 2008 – March 2009 Issue 1298.03
DIAL 1298 FOR AMBULANCE OVERVIEW
(November 2008 - March 2009)
Mumbai Kerala
Total Number of Ambulances 51 30
Total number of Calls 8936 6122
Total Free / Subsidized Calls 876 888
Welcome to the third edition of the Dial 1298 for
Ambulance newsletter. During the last five
months, Dial 1298 for Ambulance has
strengthened and augmented its service
following our expansion into larger areas of
Kerala and Mumbai. The past several months
have also been a period of reflection for all of us,
as Mumbai was tormented by one the worst
terror attacks on Indian soil and Dial 1298 was
involved in the rescue efforts.
1298 was part of MEMEx, an emergency
management exercise performed in cooperation
with the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, the
Lifesupporters Institute of Healthsciences, the
Times of India Foundation, and 14 other
agencies. The goal of MEMEx was to prepare
Mumbai for disasters through a series of
community discussions that culminated
successfully in an emergency management drill.
The end of November, Mumbai was terrorized for
three days which left numerous killed and
injured.
During the tragedy of the 26/11 attacks, Dial
1298 was one of the first emergency service
providers to respond to the Taj and other sites.
We transferred 125 people to local hospitals and
were able to save a number of lives.
Also in December, LIHS was felicitated by the
Indian Red Cross Society for providing training in
Gujarat. 1298’s ambulance crew was also
felicitated by the Red Swastik Society for the
crew’s lifesaving contributions during the
Mumbai Terror Attacks.
In January 2009, 1298 celebrated the
completion of its first successful year of
operations in Kerala. This year has been a very
eventful experience for the entire 1298 team. A
number of our supporters have also visited us in
our new office facility. I take this opportunity to
welcome each one of you to come and visit so
that you can see first hand how we operate.
I hope you enjoy reading this third edition of the
Dial 1298 for Ambulance newsletter, and as
always I would want to conclude by hoping that
this year, too, we will continue doing good work
and saving more and more lives!
Message from CEO, Sweta Mangal
26th November, 2008 is a day that many people
will not forget for a long time. Over three days,
Mumbai suffered a series of coordinated terror
attacks that left over 172 people dead and over
300 injured.
The 1298 control and dispatch center received
calls from the Taj Hotel and Leopold’s Café as the
carnage started. A 1298 Ambulance arrived at the
Taj and at Leopold’s even before the Police or the
Para-military reached the scene. Through the
night, 30 ambulances from 1298 responded to
calls at various locations around the city.
In total, 1298 helped transfer 125 people,
including foreigners, Indians, Policemen, and NSG
1298 felicitated by the Red Swastik Society
LIHS felicitated by Indian Red Cross Society
The Lifesupporters Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS) has been
conducting training in emergency medicine and disaster
preparedness at medical colleges throughout Gujarat for over
one and half years. These trainings are usually for resident
doctors of medical colleges and are given free of cost.
Commandos during the three days. 1298 had
90 Ambulance crew members working on the
field at the incident sites 24 X 7, ready to
assist in the rescue of victims. All of the
transfers from 26th to 29th November were
done free of charge, in keeping with 1298’s
policy.
For the extraordinary efforts of 1298
ambulance staff (Drivers, Helpers, Doctors,
and Control Room call takers and dispatchers),
the Red Swastik Society recognized and
felicitated 1298’s entire ambulance crew at
their annual function this year.
In recognition of the outstanding work done by LIHS, the Gujarat State
branch of the Indian Red Cross Society gave special recognition to LIHS
team for their work.
The function was presided over by the Governor of the state of Gujarat and
president of the state’s Red Cross Society, Sri Nawal Kishore Sharma. The
ceremony was also attended by the Health Minister for the state of Gujarat,
Shri Jaynarayan Narmadasankar Vyas.
The Memento
This exercise was unique as this was perhaps the first
time in India that an emergency preparedness drill
had been conducted with such a strong focus on
emergency medical response.
It was also the first time that 12 national and
international agencies had worked together to
specifically improving disaster management.
1298 completes one year in
Kerala!
On the 31st of December 2008 the Kerala
team completed one whole year of
operations. This first year has definitely been
a very progressive and rewarding one for the
entire 1298 team.
The whole family of 1298 worked really hard
to make our Kerala venture a success! After
launching the service in two districts,
Ernakulam and Thrissur, on 31st December
2007, in a year’s time we expanded our
service to five more districts of Alappuzha,
Kottayam, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and
Thiruvanthapuram, increasing the number of
ambulances to 28 in Kerala.
We have also completed 10,000 calls in
Kerala since beginning service there; out of
which over 18% have been free or subsidized
calls.
To celebrate, there was a small cake cutting
ceremony held in the Kerala head office. All
team members took a pledge that they would
continue to give their all to make 1298 the
best emergency medical service provider in
Kerala and in India.
Mumbai Emergency Medical Exercise!
MEMEx was organized by the Mumbai University
Center for Disaster Management, P.D. Hinduja
National Hospital, and the Lifesupporters Institute of
Health Sciences, in collaboration with Municipal
Corporation of Greater
Mumbai and Dial 1298 for Ambulance as leading
partners. MEMEx took place from 3rd to 9th
November 2008, and was the result of multi-
institutional partnerships which were designed to
harness the strengths and capabilities of regional
emergency responders, hospitals, and state agencies
so as to prepare them to confront urban
catastrophes.
Twenty three international experts (faculty in the
various domains pertaining to disaster/emergency
preparedness) trained around 250 individuals as part
of MEMEx. Many trainees came from local
government organizations, including the Disaster
Management Cell and the Fire Brigade. Many medical
professionals were also involved.
MEMEx-
1298 Kerala has completed
its first year of operations,
and is still going strong.
1298’s new office had a number of visitors
over the last two months. The Sheriff of
Mumbai Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani graced us
with her presences and so did Prahlad
Kakkar. Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO of the
New York-based Acumen Fund, also visited
1298. We also had visitors from Stanford &
Harvard Business Schools, who came to
understand and study 1298’s service model.
Since its inception in August 2008, the 1298 First
Responders Program has rapidly expanded, delivering
instruction in First Aid and Basic Life Support not just
to school and college students, but also to Mumbaikars
from all walks of life. By the end of March we will have
conducted 93 workshops in all, training a total of over
3000 individuals. Through our outreach efforts we
focus on training those individuals who are likely to
benefit most from our training, adapting our training
sessions to give them those skills which are likely to be
most useful for them. Key groups for whom we have
conducted workshops include: mothers/childcare
specialists, senior citizens, factory workers, corporate
offices, schools and colleges, and NGOs.
1298 First Responder
Program
Prahlad Kakkar
Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani
Jacqueline
Novogratz,
CEO Acumen
Fund
Harvard Students at 1298
In addition to this primary focus on youth, 1298 First
Responders have also been conducting workshops for
senior citizens. Through these trainings we seek to
empower senior citizens to help themselves and each
other in the event of an accident or medical
emergency. We also provide instruction on medical
emergencies to which senior citizens are particularly
susceptible, such as choking, heart attacks, and
strokes.
1298 First Responders has also developed a training
curriculum which is specific to emergencies
encountered by young children and infants. We have
targeted this workshop at young mothers and childcare
specialists, and we include special instruction on
correct methods for handling children, dealing with
fevers and injuries, and responding to choking and
respiratory arrest.
If you are interested in organizing a workshop at your
housing society, school, college, office, place of work,
etc, please contact: [email protected]
Visitors at 1298
Press Coverage
The Dial 1298 for Ambulance service continues to receive extensive coverage in various mediums such
as leading newspapers such as Times of India, DNA, Malayalam Manorama, Nav Bharat Times etc to
magazines such as Forbes, Modern Healthcare, Outlook etc to the Internet space with yourstory.in /
juniordr.com etc.
To read all the stories and happening at 1298, you can do so by visiting our blog at:
http://dial1298forambulance.blogspot.com/
We would like to thank the following for their continuing support
and encouragement:
Tata AIG Life Insurance
Red Swastik Society
Rotary Club of Bombay
London Ambulance
Service
Lifeline Foundation
Sheriff of Mumbai
Center for Study of Social Change
Lifesupporters Institute of Health Science
Ogilvy & Mather
Times Foundation
Acumen Fund
Eastern Group, GTN Group, Kalliyath Group, Federal Bank, the Mather Group, Health for All Foundation,
Alappuzha Chapter, Y’s Men of Thiruvananthapuram, Lions Club and Rotary Club of Thiruvananthapuram
Mosaic Capital
Ambulance Access for All
CSSC, M N Roy Human Development Campus, 2nd Floor, C Wing, Plot No 6, F -Block,
Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra East,
Mumbai 400 051, India
Tel: +91 22 3957 1298 Fax: +91 22 3957 1297
www.1298.org.in