And another two from Bangalore

On our way to the Sparsh Hospital on the Bangalore-Hosur highway, we come across signboards put up by the hospital. The boards advertise an emergency number to be called in case of an accident: 9900100088.

At the hospital, we inquire where calls to this number go to. The head of ambulance services? An emergency cell? We learn it goes directly to the man who matters: Nagaraj, the ambulance driver. It’s a mobile phone number, and the phone is at all times with Nagaraj.

Nagaraj’s ambulance is small. It’s a modified Maruti van, equipped with a first-aid kit and has space for a ventilator and oxygen if necessary. Nagaraj and a ward-boy man the ambulance.

Nagaraj is a young man, probably 30 or so. He is modest about the work he does. But it is a responsibility which he does not take lightly.

Nagaraj gets at least 20 emergency calls a month. When he gets one, he doesn’t ask too many questions. Just the location of the accident, and he is away.

Other hospitals ask about the extent of severity, refusing severe cases that would involve filing police reports. Or ask about the patient’s social status, preferring to leave the less privileged to government hospitals. But that is not hospital policy at Sparsh.

Nagaraj doesn’t use his emergency number for personal calls. For that, he carries his own mobile phones. He carries 3 in all. His own, the emergency Airtel line for Bangalore users, and another emergency BSNL line for Hosur users. Once the accident victim has been shifted to the ambulance, Nagaraj calls the head of ambulance services at Sparsh to inform him on the extent of injury. Shiva Kumar, the head, then makes the necessary arrangements at the hospital.

While we were at Sparsh, Nagaraj did not receive an emergency call on his mobile. But he told us it rings at least once in two days.

***

A mobile phone did make the difference between life and death for Ramakrishnappa.

We met Ramakrishnappa while he was recovering after a road accident at Sparsh hospital.

Ramakrishnappa is 48. He runs a small shop, selling bidis, cigarettes and other small items, outside the KSRTC bus depot in Anekal at the outskirts of Bangalore.

Twenty days back, Ramakrishnappa was traveling back home from his village with a friend on a two-wheeler. They had an accident and a lorry ran over Ramakrishnappa’s legs. His friend escaped unhurt, but fainted on seeing the state of Ramakrishnappa’s legs.

The road was deserted. There was no one to help Ramakrishnappa. Despite the pain, he struggled with his mobilephone, and managed to call up a couple of friends. One arrived there in ten minutes and took him to a nearby doctor. The doctor suggested they move him to a bigger hospital, and he was rushed to Sparsh.

Ramakrishnappa had to undergo three operations, and is now recovering. His wife keeps him company in the hospital, while his son minds the shop. His recovery is slow, and a lot depends on how he responds to the treatment. But the doctors hope he will be able to regain full use of his legs, and he has his mobile phone to thank for that.