BHOPAL: Wheels of about 600 ambulances operating under the Dial 108 facility run by Ziqitza Health Care Limited across Madhya Pradesh came to a standstill on Wednesday morning following an indefinite strike by the employees. Employees of the Ziqitza Health Care Limited are demanding better work condition and wages.
The strike has hit ambulatory services across the state and the impact was more visible in the rural areas while big cities with alternative services and private hospitals did not feel the pinch.
At Hamidia hospital and JP hospital emergency patients were rushed in autos and on two-wheelers and four-wheelers.
About 3,000 employees operating the ambulances run by Ziqitza including drivers and emergency management technicians (IMT) came to Bhopal from different parts of the state to participate in the strike, leaving patients and their families in distress.
The strike did impact patients dependent on treatment at government hospitals. The hospital staff regrets there isn’t much they can do to help the patients. There are a few private agencies that provide ambulance services, which the hospitals recommend to the patients in case of emergencies. However, these ambulances are very limited in number, and would fail to cater to all the patients in need of their services.
Since morning, there have been a few cases where people have called for an ambulance, but were disappointed to learn about the strike, and had to look for other means of transport.
