Ranchi: Emergency health services in Jharkhand are facing a severe crisis, with nearly half of the state’s ambulance fleet currently out of service. Out of approximately 1,065 ambulances, 465 are non-operational.
Even among the vehicles that are on the road, many are in poor condition. Several districts report ambulances with weak engines, broken stretchers, and missing oxygen cylinders. In rural areas, this has resulted in significant delays in transporting patients to hospitals, sometimes costing the lives of pregnant women and critically ill patients.
According to National Health Mission guidelines, every one lakh population should have at least one Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance, while every ten lakh population should have one Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance. At present, only around 600 ambulances are operational, with many covering multiple villages, sometimes as many as ten each.
The Health Department claims that maintenance and repair work is ongoing and expects all vehicles to be back in service in the coming months. However, in many districts, ambulances have remained non-functional for months, and calls to help lines frequently go unanswered, leaving residents without critical emergency support.