Ahmedabad: Medical assistance now on a sidecar

AHMEDABAD: In what could be a boon for patients in places inaccesible to ambulances, a two-wheeler sidecar maker in Ahmedabad has made two sidecar ambulance prototypes. The sidecar maker is in talks with authorities of Dungarpur district government hospital in Rajasthan.
Ahmedabad-based Vijay Shakti Sidecar, has converted a sidecar into an ambulance, complete with fittings to hold an oxygen supply kit, stretcher and instruments to measure temperature, blood pressure and the like.The patient is comfortably enclosed in the ambulance, which also has a siren.
The two ready sidecar ambulances, one on an Enfield motorcycle and the other on a Pulsar motorcycle, are ready and will be taken to Dungarpur in a couple of days.
“It is difficult for regular ambulances to reach villages with kutchha roads. Also, ambulances sometimes get stuck in heavy traffic and cannot reach locations where there are very narrow lanes. We have been exploring the possibility of ambulances on two-wheelers and are working with an Ahmedabad-based company to create prototypes on ambulances that use two wheelers,” said Dr Shrikant Asawa, medical superintendent, government district hospital, Dungarpur.
He added that the ambulances will be modified and changed to suit requirements. “Nothing has crystalized yet. We are looking to equip these with GPS systems. I have been in touch with the district collector for this venture,” Dr Asawa said, on the cost of these ambulances.
Upendra Chauhan, the proprietor of Shahpur-based Vijay Shakti Sidecar, said the ambulance has been made comfortable and has adequate ventilation for the patient. “The ambulances have been equipped with fittings to hold all things necessary for an ambulance,” said the 39-year-old Chauhan.