Parked near different accident-prone locations, the four QRVs will have equipment to provide basic medical treatment to an accident victim while being rushed to the nearest hospital
To ensure that victims of accidents on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway can get basic medical treatment within the golden hour while being rushed to the nearest hospital, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) recently invited bids for deploying Quick Response Vehicles (QRVs). The four QRVs will have equipment similar to that in emergency medical service ambulances.
Since 2009, 400 people have died in various accidents on the Expressway. File pic for representation
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Speaking to mid-day, MSRDC Vice-chairman and Managing Director Anil Diggikar said, “We want to set up a trauma centre along the Expressway, but, till then, we want accident victims to reach the nearest hospital during the golden hour. Keeping this in mind, we invited tenders for QRVs on Monday. These vehicles will rush victims to the nearest hospital.
Though the parking locations for the vehicles are yet to be fixed, it will be ensured that they reach any accident spot on the E-way within 20-25 minutes. The vehicles will be parked near accident-prone locations on the expressway.” MSRDC officials said that the tender would be allotted to private operators, who will maintain and operate the services for the next 10 years, at an estimated cost of Rs 66 crore.
Safety first
As a precautionary measure, a safety fence made up of wire ropes was installed in 2013 on the 73-77 km stretch of the Expressway, near Pune. The installation cost the MSRDC Rs 88 lakh. The decision to install the fence was taken after a large number of accidents occurred on the stretch.
The MSRDC also plans to set up an air ambulance service on the highway, so that the victims can be rushed to the hospital via helicopter. However, this project has not seen much progress so far.
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