Panaji: Ambulance drivers have been instructed to shift patients to private hospitals only if relatives provide written consent, GVK EMRI 108 Goa head Sushma Saini said on Monday. “The reason we ask you to sign the form is so that there’s no lobby going on ... because we don’t want ambulances to take you to private hospitals as that is a big cost for the patient,” she said.“The protocol says to take the patient to the closest appropriate govt hospital, but if the patient wants to go to a private hospital, he can go. There’s a form in the ambulance which the patient has to sign to say that he’s going with his own will and we are not forcibly taking him,” Saini said at the launch of a cardiac ambulance for SGDH using MPLADS funds.Cardiologist Dr Francisco Colaco spoke of the importance of the ‘golden hour’ to save a patient.“After a heart attack, a patient needs prompt attention within one hour, otherwise you are going to die or be left with a heart full of scars,” he said after inaugurating the ambulance.South Goa MP Capt (retd) Viriato Fernandes, who donated the ambulance under MPLAD, said he took the initiative after delay in taking a road accident patient from Navelim to the hospital last year, resulting in him succumbing to injuries.“We felt this shouldn’t happen to other people and we began planning and gave our requirements to the South Goa collectorate,” he said.He said this advanced cardiac ambulance is meant for South Goa areas and added that another will be donated for the Mormugao area.He said the ambulance will be managed by DHS and the ambulance operated by GVK EMRI 108.
