Utilization of Emergency Management and Research Institute (108 EMRI): An Emergency Response Service in Khammam District, Andhra Pradesh, India

Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) operates 1-0-8, 24X7 emergency service for medical, police and fire emergencies in India. Born in the context of the ineffective co-ordination among multiple emergency response systems, it was introduced on 15 th of August 2005, with a fleet of 652 ambulances within the state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) as a Public Private Partnership. Objectives of this work were to study the utilization pattern of 108-EMRI services in Khammam district of AP, the demographic profile of the beneficiaries and the types of emergency services provided by 108-EMRI, using data provided by the District Coordinator of 108-EMRI. Secondary data was taken from the District Coordinator of 108-EMRI for a period of one year (June 2008 to May 2009). A total of 60,898 beneficiaries had availed the108-EMRI services in the four divisions of Khammam district. Among the beneficiaries, majority were pregnancy related (17.9%), followed by RTA (Road Traffic Accidents) (13.8%), suicides (6.7%) and cardiac emergencies (3.9%). EMRI is undoubtedly operationally effective system in reaching out to those who are in need. To its credit goes the achievement of bringing Emergency medical response on to the agenda of the nation.