India’s Emergency Response System
February 6th, 2019“…..Communities began to lead and fund their own health centers. In their first four years, village health centers saw 3.5 million patient visits, including those associated with a program to screen more than 100 thousand children for nutritional and physical wellbeing. These centers have become a training and employment ground for young people who otherwise would have moved to urban areas.
After just 12 years, the Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), has deployed more than 10,000 ambulances and 45,000 skilled personnel to respond to 56.1 million emergencies, save 2.3 million lives, serve 18.9 million pregnant women, and assist in 480 thousand births.
They have done this through a centralized, call-in system that receives 150,000 calls and responds to nearly 25,000 emergencies each day. Users can call into a free, emergency 108 telephone number, which provides integrated medical, police, and fire emergency services. A single call center can provide service for up to fifty million people at a cost of $0.25 USD per person per year. The service is free to the user and costs the provider less than $15 USD per emergency. This is less than one percent of what an emergency call costs in the United States…..”