Hyderabad: The initiative to provide the 158-km Outer Ring Road (ORR), that rings Hyderabad along the suburbs, with required facilities in case of emergencies, is yielding results by being able to rush to the aid of victims of accidents.
Along the eight-lane access controlled freeway, the authorities have set up trauma care centres and deployed ambulances that are quickly rushed in case of accidents on the road stretch. In fact, in the last six months, these facilities have provided free first-hand medical treatment to over 600 injured persons.
On being alerted on the emergency numbers either by accident victims or tipped by other passers-by, an ambulance stationed nearest to the location is rushed within minutes. These ambulances are also equipped with paraphernalia needed to extend advanced medical emergency care. The injured receive extended medical care by the para-medical staff at the trauma care centres who also take assistance from doctors whenever required.
All the para-medical staff at these centres are experienced persons, said a HGCL official. “After extending medical treatment, based on the health condition, the person is sent to the hospital mentioned by him/her. There have been several instances where the injured did not require further medical care at hospitals after receiving treatment at trauma centres,” he said.
For emergency services on the ORR (Kokapet – Ghatkesar) stretch one needs to call 1066 and the emergency helpline number for the ORR (Taramatipet – Nanakramguda) stretch is 105910. Assistance can also be sought by pressing the push button on the SOS box installed on either side of the road at a gap of every 1 km.
Meanwhile, plans are underway to launch a five-digit toll-free number, which will act as a one-stop destination to report all kinds of grievances on the ORR including accidents.
Another project that has been implemented to scale up the safety of ORR users is illuminating the ORR stretch with 9,706 poles equipped with 18,220 LED lights, providing good night vision. This automated web controlled LED illumination is also monitored online by HGCL officials.