By Apsara Rodrigo
COLOMBO – The Suwa Seriya ambulance service will offer more advanced pre-hospital care from this week, with support from Microsoft and Wavenet.
“With the new service, a patient being transported to a hospital can connect with doctors to diagnose the condition using modern medical equipment and video technology,” the Department of Government Information (DGI) said in a statement.
The new facilities will aid doctors to remotely monitor the patient en route, provide necessary medical advice and/or refer the patient for further treatment accordingly.
The pilot project will be rolled out in Jaffna and Colombo initially, before being available in other districts.
“We are thankful to Microsoft and everyone who helped the program. In the face of the economic crisis, a large group of Sri Lankan entrepreneurs gave nearly 755 million rupees to help continue this service,” Health Minister Ramesh Pathirana was quoted as saying in the DGI statement.
“Sri Lanka is a country with a long history of free healthcare. The Suwa Seriya Foundation continues this tradition,” Pathirana said at the rollout of the advanced service on Universal Health Coverage Day on Tuesday (12).
The ambulance service was gifted and initially funded by India in 2016. The Sri Lankan government took over after three years and it was identified as an essential service.
The service employs 1,400 staff and 322 ambulances and is on call 24/7. It receives around 5,300 phone calls and covers about 2,500 km a day, according to the DGI.
“We should increase coverage in the future, especially in remote areas,” Pathirana said.
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