Bike Ambulance and Story of Karimul Haque
Modified On Jan 12, 2016 12:00 AM By Garvit Narang
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Karimul Haque runs a free bike ambulance service for the people of his village and those in the nearby areas. He is a resident of Dhalabari village, Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. He started the service few years back after he lost his mother due to lack of health infrastructure and absence of ambulance in the area. The clinic for normal health care is 6 kilometers away from the village but for critical disease treatment, he has to ride 45 kilometers on his Star City in one go to take a patient to the closest hospital in Malbazar town. It is quite commendable that the man bears all the fuel cost and is ready to serve the people 24x7. He shares that he is putting in all the effort for the people so that no one else have to face the consequences that his mother and family faced.
For his uncompromised social service, Karimul was awarded ‘Ananya Samman’ in 2011 from ZEE group’s Bangla News Channel. He was also presented with a Bravery Award from the local administration. He works in a tea estate and earns around Rs. 4,000 monthly, out of which, Rs. 1000 are used for the fuel cost of his bike ambulance.
Bengaluru was the first state in Asia to introduce bike ambulance on the streets. These bikes were introduced in the city from the start of fiscal, 2015-16. Speaking about them, Mr. U.T. Khader, minister for Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka, said, “The paramedic will reach the spot in ten minutes and give first aid and start resuscitation measures to save the victim till the four-wheeler ambulance arrives." Following this, Maharashtra Government has also announced in September 2015 that it will be starting this service in 2016. Dr. Deepak Sawant, a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council, said, “The State will benefit from the advanced technology from Britain, which will guide the state administration to keep digital records of patients. Doctors and nurses will be trained and healthcare centres in the rural areas will be strengthened."
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