<p>The 108 ambulance helpline, which was down for around 16 hours in the last few days, is running smoothly again, Health Department officials said.</p>.<p>When the helpline was down, many calls didn’t go through. Compared to the usual 7,000 to 8,000 calls on a usual day, it received only around 2,500 calls.</p>.<p>The Health Department then routed the calls to emergency numbers, like 112, to accept ambulance-related calls and also gave out district-level phone numbers that people could contact for the service.</p>.<p>These backup services are no longer required as the 108 helpline itself is running smoothly, said Dr Narayan, Deputy Director (EMRI-108) at the Health Department.</p>.<p>“In a meeting with the Principal Secretary (Health), all district health officers confirmed that calls were going to 108 helpline and ambulances were being dispatched,” he said.</p>.<p>The backup server for the helpline was repaired on Sunday afternoon, so as to resume the service.</p>.<p>“The main server is still being repaired. We will also buy an additional server for use in case of emergencies. It is estimated to cost Rs 7 to 8 lakh, but we will know the exact cost only when we put up the tenders,” Dr Narayan said.</p>.<p>The 108 service is run under the PPP model, with the government responsible for the assets, and the service provider GVK responsible for manpower, operations and IT solutions.</p>
<p>The 108 ambulance helpline, which was down for around 16 hours in the last few days, is running smoothly again, Health Department officials said.</p>.<p>When the helpline was down, many calls didn’t go through. Compared to the usual 7,000 to 8,000 calls on a usual day, it received only around 2,500 calls.</p>.<p>The Health Department then routed the calls to emergency numbers, like 112, to accept ambulance-related calls and also gave out district-level phone numbers that people could contact for the service.</p>.<p>These backup services are no longer required as the 108 helpline itself is running smoothly, said Dr Narayan, Deputy Director (EMRI-108) at the Health Department.</p>.<p>“In a meeting with the Principal Secretary (Health), all district health officers confirmed that calls were going to 108 helpline and ambulances were being dispatched,” he said.</p>.<p>The backup server for the helpline was repaired on Sunday afternoon, so as to resume the service.</p>.<p>“The main server is still being repaired. We will also buy an additional server for use in case of emergencies. It is estimated to cost Rs 7 to 8 lakh, but we will know the exact cost only when we put up the tenders,” Dr Narayan said.</p>.<p>The 108 service is run under the PPP model, with the government responsible for the assets, and the service provider GVK responsible for manpower, operations and IT solutions.</p>