Gujarat’s 108 ambulance service has prepared a festival response plan with around 1,500 ambulances and 6,000 employees on standby as Diwali, the New Year and Bhai Dooj are expected to bring a rise in medical emergencies across the state. The service expects emergency calls to increase by about 20 per cent during the festival period, with daily volumes potentially reaching 7,500 from the usual 5,500 to 6,000.
The expected increase is linked to a higher likelihood of burns, road accidents, falls, poisoning and other medical emergencies during the five- to seven-day festival period. The 108 service said it has planned additional staffing, medicine supplies, ambulance maintenance and field management to ensure continuity of operations.
Jaswant Prajapati, CEO of the Gujarat 108 emergency service, said the organisation analyses the types of emergencies likely to rise in each district and at specific locations during the festival season. The service then aligns its emergency response officers, team leaders and emergency response centre physicians with the forecast demand.
The service also plans to use dynamic ambulance relocation based on identified “Google hotspots”, according to Prajapati. This involves positioning ambulances closer to areas where emergency calls are more likely, with the stated aim of reducing response times and reaching patients or accident victims faster.
Gujarat currently has around 1,500 ambulances operating under the 108 system. The service said the integration of suitable ambulances from primary health centres and community health centres has helped reduce its average response time from 15–16 minutes to 11–12 minutes. In cities, the response time has fallen below 10 minutes, according to Prajapati.
The state’s integrated 112 emergency service will also remain operational during the festival period. The platform brings police, fire, medical emergency, women’s safety, child protection and disaster-management services under a single emergency number. The services included are police response previously associated with 100, fire services through 101, medical emergencies through 108, the 181 Abhayam women’s helpline, the 1098 child helpline and disaster-management numbers 1070 and 1077.
Under the integrated system, callers can dial 112 for different types of emergencies, after which the call centre can activate the relevant police, fire, medical, disaster-management or women’s safety resources. The 108 and 112 teams have made advance resource plans to manage the expected rise in calls.
The emergency service said its ambulances are equipped to provide pre-hospital care for trauma, cardiac arrest, pregnancy-related emergencies, snake bites and burns. For burn cases, the service has described coordination with hospitals that have burn wards, along with wound-care supplies and burn ointments in ambulances. Paramedics have also received training to provide initial care for patients with serious burns before hospital admission.
The preparedness plan comes as some private hospitals and doctors may remain unavailable during parts of the extended festival period, according to the 108 service. Additional emergency response staff, field teams, supply-chain personnel and information-technology teams have been assigned to support uninterrupted operations.
