USAID sets up:

Emergency medical service in Jaffna peninsula

An emergency medical service and a communication centre were opened in Jaffna on February 11 with the assistance of the United States Embassy.

An emergency call service network was also activated with it. Such a service was available earlier only in Colombo, Kandy and Galle. The first call to the communication centre 110 was taken by the Deputy Head of the United States Embassy James R. Moore.

Zonal Director of Health Services Jaffna, Dr. Kethisweran speaking at the occasion, said that the people of Jaffna could call 110 any time of the day and get an ambulance in any emergency that could cause a threat to life.

This Jaffna project is part of national emergency 110 that is being established to upgrade emergency medical services in the country.

It is implemented jointly by the Ministries of Health Service and Nutrition and Provincial Council and Local Government. USAID has provided a donation of $ 200,000 to this project through its Office for Foreign Disaster Aid (OFDA). "Under this project over 100 health technicians, over 650 doctors and nurses have been trained," said James Moore.

USAID has also given a basic training on first aid to over 12,000 persons and supplied life supporting equipment and supplies as well as 33 ambulances to the Jaffna district.

Within 24 hours after the inauguration of the service the first emergency call was received and an ambulance with a trained staffer reached the patient within five minutes to provide first aid and later he was transferred to the Jaffna Teaching Hospital for additional treatment.