Concerns have been raised about the lack of ambulances and funds to operate the 1990 Suwa Seriya Free Ambulance service in Sri Lanka.
Outlining an emergency faced recently, a Sri Lankan Doctor says due to the unavailability of a Suwa Seriya Ambulance in the vicinity, an ambulance was dispatched from 13 km away, during which an ill person died.
Taking to ‘X’, she further revealed that, in conversation, Suwa Seriya Foundation Chairman Dumindra Ratnayaka had acknowledged that the free ambulance service was facing several obstacles in providing a smooth operation.
Following are the seven key factors that had been outlined by Ratnayake as having resulted in affecting the operations of the 1990 Suwa Seriya Free Ambulance Service,
- Only 322 ambulances for the 22 million population
- 56 ambulances are out of service
- Many trained Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) and drivers have migrated
- Each EMT needs 6 months of training before being given the responsibility of handling an emergency
- Difficult to hire new EMTs because of the poor salary scale. Out of the 200 new EMTs chosen, only 45 want to join
- Ambulances aren’t repaired properly because experienced mechanics have migrated
- Suwa Seriya needs sustainable public-private funding to increase salaries & provide better service (Newswire)
