12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

KARACHI, July 11: The Edhi Foundation is soon going to launch an initiative, called the Edhi Emergency Medical Service (EEMS), under which people getting injured in terrorist attacks or natural disasters would be provided treatment either on the scene or on the way to various medical centres.

Rizwan Edhi told Dawn said that considerable work had already been completed in this regard, and the service was expected to be launched formally in August. "The project was envisaged initially by Mr Edhi himself because a lot of lives can be saved if the injured are treated before they are shifted to hospitals," he said.

Elaborating on the service, Rizwan said under the initiative, about 30 custom-built ambulances would be on the ready round the clock, which would be rushed to sites where disasters strike.

The ambulances would be equipped with oxygen cylinders and kits, suction machines, ECG machines, splints, CPR gear and gadgets to monitor sugar levels and blood grouping."

He said each ambulance would be manned by specially-trained paramedical and medical staff. "The idea is to administer as much first aid as possible before the patient reaches hospital, thereby, saving precious time in each case."

Answering a question, Rizwan said the Edhi Foundation had held consultations with the Japanese officials in Pakistan so that good quality ambulances could be acquired for the purpose, adding that vehicles being acquired for the purpose would be bigger than those in use at the moment. However, due to resource constraints, they would be smaller than the standard-sized ambulances in use throughout the world, explained Rizwan. He told this reporter that training manuals had already been acquired for the purpose.

Paramedical and medical staff would be trained at the Edhi Foundation's own institute for which Dr Junaid Razzaq, based in the US, had enlisted the support of several international and national non-governmental organisations, medical centres and other bodies. The initiative would be coordinated in Karachi by Dr Sarfraz.

Rizwan said the service would be operating under the control of the foundation's neurosurgeons, traumatologists and orthopaedic surgeons. The Edhi staff manning each ambulance would be in constant contact with various medical centres through wireless sets and cellular telephones, he said.

This way, the patient's history and his or her condition would be relayed to hospitals well before his or her arrival there. Conversely, the hospital staff would also be in a position to guide the ambulance staff in case they were in need of the same.

The initiative would be funded wholly by the Edhi Foundation and no organization, whether local or international, would be approached for assistance. If need be, helicopters and small aircraft would be pressed into service so that more and more lives could be saved.

Rizwan, the foundation's chief volunteer for Karachi, said Faisal Edhi, its vice-managing trustee, had studied in detail the ambulance service in London and chalked out the plan.

London, a city of eight million souls had as many as 800 ambulances. "On the other hand, Karachi, a city of more than 10 million people, had more than 100 ambulances. We need at least 1,000 ambulances in Karachi."

In response to a question, Rizwan said the Edhi Foundation would acquire 102 ambulances soon. "In August we will get these ambulances. Of these, some 50 ambulances would be sent to Punjab, while the rest would be for other parts of the country."