Chennai: At a time when there is said to be a severe shortage of ambulances to carry Covid patients, hundreds of such vehicles are allegedly lying idle in the premises of Chengalpet Government Hospital.
According to a report in a vernacular channel, around 500 ambulances have been halted in the hospital campus and they are not being put to use.
Even as this has come under criticism, given the shortage of ambulances, sources in 108 Emergency Management services said ambulances halted at Chengalpet hospital were old and abandoned vehicles from various parts of the State.
‘Since the fitness of ambulances needs to be on the higher side as they have to rush patients to hospitals on top speed, they can’t be used for longer period of time like other vehicles. Such old vehicles which can no more be used as ambulances have been halted at Chengalpet hospital. Some of them will be put to other use soon,’ sourcs said.
People expect these ambulances to be made as Covid care centres, like how the Railways converted train coaches, as there is a shortage of beds.
‘If it is not possible to use those vehicles as ambulances, there are a lot of other ways to make use of them, especially in these pandemic times,’ says a Tambaram resident who recently ran from pillar to post to find a hospital bed for his kin.