BS RAWAT
NEW DELHI: The First Responder Vehicle (FRV) Bike Ambulance scheme launched recently in Delhi by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been challenged in the Delhi High Court.

Advocate Shatakshi Verma has petitioned the High Court that the scheme has been launched without doing due diligence with the help of untrained manpower, who were considered unfit to man existing ambulance system due to lack of technical qualification.

Ms Verma told DTMT that the newly launched scheme is supposed to provide on the spot emergency medical intervention in congested localities of the crowded areas of Delhi. However, due to unknown reasons, the government has launched this scheme on the eve of general election without deploying adequately qualified and trained paramedics.

While launching the ambulance, the chief minister said, "Till now only big vehicles were available for ambulance services, now these bike ambulances will be able to reach narrow bylanes to provide immediate medical care for people residing there."

“It is pertinent to mention herein that the existing staff of AAO (Assistant Ambulance Officer) was found to be unfit for operation and maintenance of existing ambulance services and to that operation CATS Ambulances were outsourced to BVG through open tendering process, they were directed to engage the manpower which will meet the technical qualification,” Ms Verma stated in her petition.

The petition was filed through Advocate Kamlesh Kumar. The counsel for the petitioner argued that the purpose of the scheme will get defeated if trained paramedics are not deployed on FRV as the aim of existing ambulances and FRV’s are entirely different.  Ambulances are supposed to assist the patients in emergency from home to hospital. However FRV’s have wider and vital role to stabilize the patient on the spot.