Kathmandu Metropolitan City Plans to Launch Motorcycle Ambulances to Tackle Traffic Congestion

Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) is preparing to launch motorcycle ambulances to make emergency health services more effective and rapid. A meeting of the advisory committee, chaired by Acting Mayor Sunita Dangol, proposed the motorcycle ambulance concept to address the issue of ambulances failing to reach patients on time due to heavy traffic congestion.

Considering the risk to patients' lives when ambulances get stuck in traffic, this option has been chosen to ensure health workers can reach the scene immediately to provide first aid. During the meeting, Acting Mayor Dangol directed the Health Department to ensure health workers reach critical health situations as quickly as possible.

Emphasizing technology-friendly services, she stated that a system should be implemented allowing patients' relatives to track the ambulance's location and identify the health workers on board via mobile devices. She clarified that a mechanism will be established after conducting necessary studies to make pre-hospital medical services scientific and practical during emergencies.

The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has been operating this service in collaboration with the Nepal Ambulance Service since Baisakh 2076. During this period, the metropolis has provided 134.4 million rupees in grants, and 84,489 patients have directly benefited from the service.

According to statistics, the average cost of providing service to one patient is 1,605 rupees, a burden that the Metropolitan City has been bearing. Following this collaboration, 69 pregnant women have successfully given birth safely inside ambulances, and 23,500 people received services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, a limited number of ambulances are operating within the Kathmandu Valley, with 7 in Kathmandu Metropolitan City and one each in Kirtipur, Satdobato, and Sallaghari. Studies indicate that at least 49 ambulances are needed in the valley to meet the international standard of reaching patients within 8 minutes of being contacted.

In the meeting, officials from the Health and Finance departments pointed out the need to discuss the possibility of financial partnerships with other municipalities in the valley to improve service quality and reduce costs. Ambulance service officials emphasized that while collaboration has greatly helped in managing sensitive incidents, a new strategy must be developed to face the challenge of traffic congestion.