PRESS RELEASE

HOWRAH CITY POLICE PARTNERS WITH NARAYANA SUPERSPECIALITY HOSPITAL TO GIVE CITIZENS A 24-HOUR FREE TRAUMA AMBULANCE SERVICE

Kolkata, July 9, 2016: Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, a leading super-specialty hospital in Eastern emerged as the preferred partner for City Police as they launched ‘KIRAN’ – a 24x7 Free Trauma Ambulance Service dedicated to the residents of Howrah City. The service was launched by the Chief Guest, Shri Surajit Kar Purkayastha, IPS, DGP, West in a ceremony held at New Santragachi Bus Terminal as part of Howrah City Police’s “SAFE DRIVE, SAVE LIFE” initiative.

The high profile list of dignitaries present on the occasion included Shri Prasun Banerjee, MP, Shri Arup Roy, Minister, Department of Cooperation, WB Govt, Shri Rajib Banerjee, Minister, Department of Irrigation & Waterways, WB Govt and Shri Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Minister of State, Department Of Sports & Youth Affairs, WB Govt.

Dr. Rathin Chakravarty, Mayor Howrah, Shri Devendra Prakash Singh, IPS, Commissioner of Police (Howrah City) also graced the occasion in the presence of R Venkatesh, Zonal Director (East), Narayana Health and Rakesh Verma, Facility Director, Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Howrah.

Howrah has long suffered a lack of properly established and coordinated trauma and ambulance services that can come to the prompt assistance of road traffic accident victims. With the launch of 6 fully equipped Ambulances provided under Shri Prasun Banerjee’s MP fund, Howrah City Police and Narayana Superspeciality Hospital plan to bridge the gap with these ambulances being placed at strategic locations in the city to attend to accident and trauma victims and take them to the nearest hospital. All ambulances will be fully equipped with a team of experienced paramedical staff from Narayana Superspeciality Hospital trained in attending to accident and trauma emergency round the clock. The ambulances will be manned by Civic Police volunteers.

Shri Devendra Prakash Singh, IPS, Commissioner of Police (Howrah City) said “This relatively new concept of meeting medical emergencies on the road will put the city of Howrah on the prestigious list of few Indian cities where this service is currently available. An accident victim will be rescued and transported to the nearest hospital by the ambulance equipped with paramedics from Narayana Health. This is a significant step towards our SAFE DRIVE, SAVE LIFE initiative. We hope to drastically reduce the number of accident related deaths in the city”.

There will be a Central Command Centre; manned and operated by Howrah City Police where all calls for accident-assistance will have to be made (The helpline number is 801 731 1111). The Command Centre will be staffed by Call Receivers and Ambulance Dispatchers who would have access to a database of all Howrah hospitals so that patients can be directed to the nearest hospital capable of providing emergency care.

R Venkatesh, Zonal Director (East) Narayana Health said, “We at Narayana Health are committed to achieving the highest standards in safety and well-being for all our stakeholders and the environment that we operate in. There has been an alarming rise in deaths due to road accidents and we will ensure and promote Howrah City Police’s efforts to reverse this trend.”

The 6 Ambulances will be kept Emergency Ready and the medical equipments will be maintained by Narayana Superspeciality Hospital.

Shri Prasun Banerjee, Honorable Member of Parliament, “We recognize that every single moment is valuable in saving the life of an accident victim and hence the initiative to launch KIRAN –Trauma Ambulance Project. We appreciate such public and private partnerships and thank the team from Narayana Health for coming forward and supporting Howrah City Police in this noble cause. The helpline number to contact the Command Centre is 801 731 1111”.

About Narayana Health: With all super-speciality tertiary care facilities that the medical world offers, Narayana Health is now a one-stop healthcare destination for all. From the first facility established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds in 2000, our Company has grown to 54 facilities (which includes 53 facilities in India and 1 facility in the Cayman Islands operated by our Company's associate company, Health City Cayman Islands Ltd.) with 5300 operational beds with a potential to reach over 6600 beds. Our Company has a network of 23 hospitals (multispeciality and superspeciality healthcare facilities which provide tertiary care services), 7 heart centres (superspeciality units which are set up in a third party hospital) and 23 primary care facilities (including clinics and information centres), across a total of 18 cities in India. (For details, visit www.narayanahealth.org)

About Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Howrah Apart from comprehensive cancer care covering medical, radiation and surgical oncology, the unit offers tertiary care services in more than 40 specialities, which includes Cardiac Sciences, Neurosciences, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Urology as well as Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology. Built as per FGI standards (Facility Guidelines Institute), USA, the hospital has a Centre of Excellence for Comprehensive Cancer Care and is well- equipped to handle medical emergencies and trauma round the clock.

About Narayana Health Network, : Narayana Health now serves the people of Kolkata through its chain of 8 network hospitals & clinics in the city located at Mukundapur (EM Bypass), Salt Lake, Howrah, Hiland Park, Lansdowne and Barasat. Narayana Health’s unparalleled heart network in Kolkata comprises of six Cath Labs across the city and 43 Cardiac Consultants with emergency specialists working round the clock to ensure health for all.