While essential services like cooked food and ration for the lesser fortunate make up for the need of the hour, Tejas Sonawane a Mumbai based cop also realised how a shortage of ambulances might also be an equally important need. During the pressurising time of this pandemic when cases in India are at an all-time high, ambulances to transport patients fast make for a very important requirement and realising that fact, Mumbai police officer Tejas started a free of cost ambulance service on Wednesday, 27 May.
He was seen wearing a transparent raincoat, gloves and a face shield as he couldn't afford a PPE kit, helping patients through his ambulance service. He’s managed to help six patients reach hospitals, so far- including one senior citizen and one pregnant woman.
Tejas was motivated to start this service upon seeing two senior citizens asking vehicles on the road to take them to a nearby hospital upon failing to find an ambulance. He also found a woman from the Cuffe Parade slum area, sitting on the road while she waited for an ambulance that was a no show. Witnessing these incidents in close succession made him realise how important a free ambulance service would be presently.
He asked a friend to give his Omni van and by creating a partition between the driver’s seat and the back seat, making it sufficient in a way that it could transport people to hospitals. Cuffe parade residents have begun contacting him before getting in touch with any other ambulance service provider, as they began hearing stories.
Tejas takes extra care of the van by sanitising and disinfecting it before and after he drops a patient, or picks one up.
Sometimes he gets a call while he’s on duty, but his supervisors never deter him from going and helping people which is why he parks his ambulance van outside the station so, in case of a call, he can rush to the spot.
His ability to act quickly to solve a problem he experiences first hand is truly commendable.
(With inputs from Indian Express)
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