Pune: Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) ambulances catered to 25 emergency patients and have provided treatment to 176 patients during Ganesh visarjan on Sunday and Monday in Pune. No fatalities were reported.
However, during the 10 days of Ganesh festival this year, overall, 110 emergency patients were transferred to nearby healthcare facilities and 868 patients were treated on the spot.
In Pune, MEMS has 40 vehicles in Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) area, comprising Advance Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) which are available for transporting patients from incident place to appropriate nearest healthcare facility, said officials of MEMS.
Ambulances were also deployed on the procession routes at Vijay Talkies Chowk, Belbaug Chowk, Alka Chowk and Tilak Chowk along with major visarjan ghats in PMC and PCMC areas. The similar deployment was also observed on September 14, September 17 and September 19 this year. Speaking to Sakal Times about an emergency case on Sunday in the city, Dr Dnyaneshwar Shelke, Chief Operating Officer at BVG MEMS said,
“A special case was handled by Dr Sandip Shinde from Cantonment Board Hospital Ambulance deployed in Alka Chowk. The doctor was approached by some devotees and his team immediately responded to the patient who was lying unconscious on the side of the road near Alka Chowk.”
He added that patient had no major pulses palpable so was immediately administered Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR).
“In a few minutes, when the patient had the return of spontaneous circulation, regained consciousness and taken to nearby hospital with the help of other devotees. Timely medical help in this emergency case turned out to be instrumental in saving the patient’s life,” said Dr Shelke.
He further added that MEMS deploys ambulances at various mass gatherings like Ganesh visarjan, Navaratri and Durga Puja, Dussehra, Dahi Handi, New Year’s Eve, Ashadhi Wari, Pune Marathon, Mahaparinirvan Din, Muharram and other events.
“With the help of prior planning and coordination with PMC and PCMC authorities, department of public health, disaster management offices, local police and fire departments and other relevant agencies, the Ganesh visarjan was covered effectively and is becoming a foundation for the prevention of casualties,” said Dr Shelke.
