Dial 1298 for Ambulance Newsletter July - October 2008 Issue 1298.02

DIAL 1298 FOR AMBULANCE OVERVIEW

(July – October 2008)

Mumbai Kerala

Total Number of Ambulances 51 28

Total number of Calls 7416 5618

Total Free / Subsidized Calls 1840 194

Welcome to the second edition of the Dial 1298 for

Ambulance newsletter. The period from June to

October has been full of excitement and pride with

the introduction of world’s best dispatch and

control center software, followed by 1298 51st

ambulance launch in Mumbai and a rapid scale up

of the service in three more districts in Kerala.

Working towards our commitment to save lives,

we initiated the first ever community awareness

program to train school and college students on

First Aid and Basic Life Support in order to create

a pool of “First Responders” who can help during

medical emergencies. The program is being

conducted by our training arm Lifesupporters

Institute of Health Sciences.

In our continuing effort to strengthen the 1298

Women’s Helpline, with support from the Sheriff of

Mumbai, Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani, the Akshara

Center and Times Foundation, we compiled the

first ever Women Resource Directory which

contains details for 75 NGO’s in Mumbai that

work on women’s issues.

In September, Bihar was effected by the worst

floods in over 50 years. To help the victims we

dispatched 5 ambulances to Bihar and also

organized a Bihar Flood Relief Collection Drive

in association with the Times Foundation,

Indian Oil Corporation, the Sheriff of Mumbai,

Dr. (Mrs.) Indu Shahani, TNT Express and

Goonj.

Finally we moved to our new home at the

Centre for Study of Social Change (CSSC) in

Bandra East. The new office also houses 1298’s

world class dispatch and control center which is

the hub for all 1298 ambulance operations. I

extend an invitation to all of you to visit our

new office and get the tour yourself.

Hope you enjoy reading our second edition and

a big thank you for your continued support and

encouragement.

Message from CEO,

Sweta Mangal

Dial 1298 for Ambulance launched its 51st

Ambulance in Mumbai & the world’s best

Ambulance Dispatch & Control Center Software

on the 8th of October 2008 at a function at Grant

Medical College Gymkhana on Marine Drive.

Present on the occasion were Shri. Milind Deora,

MP & Smt. Priya Dutt, MP who jointly flagged off

the 51st Ambulance. The other dignitaries

present at the event were Shri. Kripa Shanker

Singh, M.L.A, Shri. Sanjay Dutt, M.L.C and Dr.

Indu Shahani, Sheriff of Mumbai, Joydeep Roy,

CDO Tata AIG Life and Varun Shani, CEO

Acumen Fund India.

51st Ambulance & World’s Best

Ambulance Dispatch and Control

Center Software Launched in Mumbai

1298 expands to three more districts

in Kerala

Dial 1298 for Ambulance expanded its presence

in Kerala to cover three more districts of

Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram and

Kollam with an additional fleet of 8 Ambulances.

The launch function was held at VJT Hall,

Thiruvananthapuram on the 20th of October

2008.

The Ambulances were flagged by various

dignitaries including K P Rajendran, Honorable

Revenue Minister of Kerala Shri. Ommen

Chandy, Opposition leader of Kerala Assembly,

C. Jayan Babu Mayor of Thrivuvanathapuram

On occasion of the launch, a free health check-

up camp was also organized at the venue in

association with Rotary Club, Lions Club, Y’s Men

and Indian Medical Association.

The upgrade is set to provide Mumbaikars and

Keralites the very best when it comes to

management of pre-hospital patient care - both

in service and speed.

The technology known as ProQA has the facility

of obtaining the patient's status, choosing an

appropriate Ambulance dispatch level and most

importantly in instructing the caller with

medically approved protocols to support the

victim / patient until the dispatched Ambulance

arrives at the incident.

To complement this technology, the Dispatch

and Control Center has been equipped with CAD

– Computer Aided Dispatch Software, which

works on RTS – Real time Tracking System of

Ambulances using GPS – Global Positioning

Systems.

Bihar was devastated by floods with Kosi River

breaking its embankments in August 2008. The

fury of the Kosi River left at least 2.5 million

people marooned in eight districts of Bihar and

inundated 65,000 hectares of agricultural land.

Dial 1298 for Ambulance dispatched 5

Ambulances to Bihar to aid various relief camps.

On hearing the plight of millions from our

Ambulance crews in Bihar, 1298 collaborated

with the Times Foundation, Indian Oil

Corporation, the Sheriff of Mumbai, Dr. (Mrs.)

Indu Shahani, TNT and Goonj to organize a Bihar

Flood relief collection drive in Mumbai.

1298 has a new Address

Bihar Flood Relief Drive

After sharing chairs and computers for the last

few months in our Parel office, we finally shifted

to our spacious new office in Bandra East,

Mumbai.

The new office address is

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

Please stop by for a visit!

Times Foundation carried out advertisement in

Times of India, Economics Times, Nav Bharat

Times & Maharashtra Times appealing

Mumbaikars to donate for Bihar victims.

Collection kiosks were set up at ten IOC petrol

pumps across Mumbai from the 16th to the 22nd

of September, 2008. These donations were

consolidated and packaged by TNT Express and

subsequently delivered to our on-site partner

NGOs, Goonj and Nehru Yuva Kendra.

The Sheriff of Mumbai promoted the drive by

inviting Shaimak Davar and Parliamentarian

Milind Deora and other dignitaries to donate at

Breach Candy IOC petrol pump.

The drive was a huge success, and we collected

over 65,000 Kilograms of relief materials

including medicines, dry rations, clothes, milk

powder packets and rolls of tarpaulins.

On the 15th of August, Dial 1298 for Ambulance

started a community initiative program along

with Lifesupporters Institute of Health Sciences,

to create a pool of “First Responders” in Mumbai

by providing free First Aid and Basic Life Support

training to Schools and Colleges students.

The purpose of the workshops is so that in

event of an accident or a medical emergency, a

bystander is well-versed in administering First

Aid and Basic Life Support to the victim until an

Ambulance arrives.

We conduct these workshops in Schools and

Colleges free of cost. To-date we have

conducted over 30 such workshops, training

over 1,800 individuals. Our plan is to complete

100 such workshops by the end of this year.

A three hour workshop covers both medical

and traumatic emergencies ranging from

bleeding, burns, fractures, strokes and seizures

to cardiac arrest. Basic Cardio Pulmonary

Resuscitation (CPR) techniques are given

through practical experience by trying it out on

mannequins and use of an Automated External

Defibrillator.

Since its initiation, the program has received

appreciation from the students and teachers as

well as extensive coverage in leading

newspapers in Mumbai. To organize workshops

for a school/college, write to

karina.zaveri@1298.org.in

1298 First Responders

1298 Women’s Resource Directory

Dial 1298 for Ambulance has been closely working

with the Sheriff of Mumbai Dr. (Mrs.) Indu

Shahani to strengthen the 1298 Women’s helpline.

Since the launch of the 1298 Women’s helpline

has received over 5300 calls. Callers were referred

directly to the most relevant NGO. In addition, to

making this information widely available to all

women who might be in distress, 1298 compiled

the first Women’s Resource Directory. This effort

was carried out under the guidance of the Sheriff

of Mumbai and with the support of Akshara

Center.

On the 9th of September, Indian Cricket Superstar,

Sachin Tendulkar launched the 1298 Women’s

Resource Directory along with Dr. (Mrs.) Indu

Shahani at HR college.

The Resource Directory has details of over 75

NGOs working with Women & Senior citizens in

Mumbai. They are classified on the basis of

services (Legal / counseling / Short stay homes /

Health / De-addiction) and location.

The launch function was a great success and it

wouldn’t have been possible without the

exceptional organizational skills & talents of H.R.

College students.

With the support of Times Foundation, 25,000

copies of the directory were printed and

distributed to women in Mumbai. To further

support the cause, the Times group also printed a

two page pull out with the details of the Women

Resource Directory, making the information widely

available to lakhs of women in Mumbai.

To get a copy of the 1298 Women’s Resource

Directory you can drop an e-mail to

rubina.dsouza@1298.org.in

Press Coverage

The Dial 1298 for Ambulance service continues to receive extensive coverage in the press. We have

also recently launched a blog that will keep you in the loop on all the latest news & happenings at 1298.

You can do so by visiting our blog at: http://dial1298forambulance.blogspot.com/

Mr. Chris Walker joined 1298 in November 2007

as part of his fellowship at Acumen Fund. Prior

to joining Acumen and 1298, he was the

Associate Director, International Relations at

Millennium Challenge Corporation and prior to

which he was an International Economist with

the US Treasury Department.

At Dial 1298 for Ambulance, Chris was

responsible for raising awareness about the

service in Mumbai and also in getting other

NGOs and Corporates involved in the project. He

played the key role in designing and

implementing the strategies to raise awareness

about 1298 in Mumbai.

He also worked closely with our creative design

team to create various marketing materials. He

was also instrumental in convincing NGO’s /

Organizations to donate Ambulances to help the

expansion in Mumbai.

We at Dial 1298 for Ambulance would like to

thank Chris Walker for all his efforts in helping

save more lives in Mumbai. Lastly Chris ended

his tenure at 1298 in August on the note saying

“I found my time with 1298 to be one of the

most fulfilling experiences I've ever had”.

Adieu to Chris Walker

1298 to help Road Accident Victims

Every year, numerous Mumbaikars lose their

lives in road traffic accidents, often because they

did not have access to timely or adequate critical

care. The Dial 1298 for Ambulance Service was

created to prevent such unnecessary tragedies.

Since our inception, we have been working

towards creating awareness about our services,

and about the importance of immediately calling

a well equipped ambulance service in the event

of an accident.

In the past months, Dial 1298 for Ambulance

teamed up with the Mumbai Traffic Police to

provide ambulance services to accident victims

on the Eastern and Western Express Highways.

These ambulances are stationed at strategic

location which provides access to both the

Highways so that immediate emergency care to

accident victim’s rapid transfer to the closest

hospital is possible.

To help create awareness about this service, the

Mumbai traffic police have provided assistance

by periodically flashing the vital information:

‘For Ambulance Call - 1298’ across the digital

signboards at the major traffic signals across

Mumbai.

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

Confederation of Indian

Industry

Lifeline Foundation

Sheriff of Mumbai

Center for Study of Social Change

Lifesupporters Institute of Health Science

Ogilvy & Mather

Times Foundation

Acumen Fund

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

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