- In July 2022, a seven-month pregnant woman in Madhya Pradesh, India died because the ambulance couldn’t reach her and take her to the hospital on time, reported NDTV.
- In November 2022, a man in Telangana, India was forced to carry his daughter’s dead body on a motorbike after a nearby hospital refused to provide an ambulance.
Our team in India took a deeper dive into the data revealing just how serious the timely medical access problem is in the country.
HERE ARE A FEW APPALLING FACTS!
- According to Indian government data from 2017, nearly half of all heart attack patients take more than 400 minutes to reach a hospital – nearly 13 times more than the ideal window of 30 minutes.
- Latest National Crime Records Bureau statistics reveal that nearly 24,012 people – victims of conditions ranging from strokes and brain hemorrhage, to accidents – die every day due to a delay in getting medical help.
- On an average, 122 women die during childbirth for every 100,000 live births, shows latest Sample Registration System (SRS) estimates (2015-17). The cause of death, for an overwhelming majority, is lack of timely medical access and facilities.
Back in 2021, when the second wave of covid-19 wreaked unimaginable devastation across India, UNITED SIKHS stepped up, providing oxygen cylinders and ambulances to thousands of suffering people. Given the critical need and rising demand for the ambulance service, it was continued, remaining available round the clock and free of cost in urban centers such as Chandigarh, Delhi NCR, and Bengaluru. This year saw the sewa expanded to Ludhiana where an ambulance has been rushing for critical medical assistance all through the year. More recently on September 20, UNITED SIKHS befittingly commemorated the birth and death anniversary of a beloved Sikh, Bhai Ghanaiya Ji, launching more ambulances in Ludhiana West, Sri Amritsar, and Jammu.
According to CNN, ambulance transportation service – vital to saving the life of a critical patient – can cost anything ranging from INR 1000-6000, by no means a paltry sum for millions in India who survive on less than $2 a day. In contrast, the UNITED SIKHS ambulances are completely free to access. This is even more meaningful, given that the patients are sometimes the only earning members of the family. By ensuring that the marginalized get timely medical attention, our ambulance sewa is potentially preventing underprivileged families from being plunged into a cycle of poverty, more abject than the one they’re already in.
This remarkable service could NEVER have been possible without the help of our volunteers and kind-hearted donors like you!
There is a vital connection between patient mortality and emergency medical aid. The cases and figures cited above are an indication of the anonymous millions that are dying, have died, or are denied dignity even in death, due to lack of ambulance transportation. We at UNITED SIKHS not only want to keep the existing ambulance sewa up and running, but plan to expand it to more towns and cities, making sure the ambulances are available 24*7 and cost nothing, so as to keep serving the poorest of poor everywhere. Sarbat da bhalla, eternally!
As always, UNITED SIKHS needs YOUR unflinching support and cooperation in this noble endeavor. We need to purchase more vehicles, get ambulance equipment, hire help, and arrange logistics across towns and cities. The precious contributions of our donors can sure help us achieve this goal!
The cost to operate a fully-equipped ambulance with a 3-person medical staff team is roughly 1000 USD or 90,000 INR per month.
YOUR valuable donation can literally help save someone’s life TODAY!
Jasleen Kaur
UNITED SIKHS
Recognize the Human Race as One
