13 Minutes In 2014 To 17 Now: Delhi Ambulances' Response Time Increases

The average ambulance response time in the national capital has now increased, despite more vehicles being added to the fleet, according to a recent report tabled in the Delhi assembly.

The report said the ambulances under the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) program, which is operated by the Delhi government, were taking a response time of 17 minutes, as against 13 minutes in 2014.

The delay was recorded despite the number of CATS ambulances being increased from 155 to 261 in the last 10 years in Delhi, which has a population of about three crore.

The CATS, established in 1989, provides free ambulance services in the capital for accident and trauma victims.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely said the government should probe how the response time has increased.

Last month, the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) flagged that the major portion of the fleet of CATS ambulances was found running without essential equipment and devices.

It said the average response time from January 2020 to July 2020 ranged between 28 to 56 minutes and improved to 15 minutes as of September 2022.

"Reasons mentioned in the records were absence of ambulance staff in the ambulance, unavailability of oxygen in the ambulance, unfit driving condition of ambulance etc," the report said.

It said that 12 of 27 hospitals audited in Delhi did not have ambulance services.

The CAG report also said the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government did not spend Rs 245 crore out of nearly 788 crore provided by the Centre for emergency response during the Covid pandemic and delayed the release of funds for vaccination against the deadly infection.

The report comes amid the BJP, which returned to power in the capital last month after over 26 years, promising to improve the healthcare system.

The newly-formed government, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has also begun the process of filling 492 vacancies of doctors in the capital. It is also aiming to hire 1,055 paramedical staff and 1,507 nursing staff.

At present, about 1,036 doctors and 5,557 nurses are working in the hospitals.