T.Nadu-EMRI tie-up for free emergency assistance

Chennai (PTI): The Tamil Nadu Government and Emergency Management Research Institute (EMRI) on Tuesday entered into an agreement to provide free emergency assistance to the people of the state.

As per the agreement, the comprehensive Emergency Response Services (ERS) would be launched by July end in certain districts and would be expanded in a phased manner in Tamil Nadu, State Health and Family Welfare Special Secretary P W C Davidar, told reporters.

He said the state government would provide 198 ambulances and the required land to the EMRI for setting up a centralised emergency response centre at Tambaram in the city.

 

To begin with, the 24 hour call centre to receive calls through "108", a toll-free telephone number from landline and moblie, would be temporarily set up at Triplicane in the city, he said adding that the whole project would be implemented in a public private partnership (PPP) mode and efforts would be made to rope in services of private hopsitals in the project.

EMRI Chief Executive Officer Venkat Changavalli said the success it had in Andhra Pradesh had prompted the not-for-profit organisation to expand its service to Tamil Nadu.

He said the EMRI had already launched its service in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Gujarat and talks were on with the governments of Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.