KARACHI: At least 150 ambulances are lying out of order across the Sindh province out of 487, while majority of rescue vehicles are not equipped with life-saving facilities, sources at Sindh health department told PPI on Thursday.
A big number of rescue ambulances are lying out of order in Shikarpur, Badin, Naushero Feroze, Jacobabad and Sukkur districts since several years. No attempt has been made by the Sindh health department to get them repaired.
The operational ambulances also required maintenance and repairing on urgent basis to cater any kind of eventuality in future. Only 11 ambulances are available in two districts of Karachi division including District Malir and District West while four Karachi districts, including Central, South, East and Korangi, were without rescue ambulances facility.
However, data of hospitals were not included. The patients’ attendants are facing immense problems in shifting their seriously ill patients from taluka hospitals to districts health facilities and districts to tertiary care hospitals due to absence of ambulances.
Although funds are available for the repair of ambulances but no attempt has been made to repair these out of order vehicles. Situation in taluka, district and teaching health facilities are also not satisfactory in Sindh.