Manipal Hospitals launches fully-loaded ambulances for newborns

Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Friday inaugurated the Manipal Hospitals' neonatal ambulance service, aimed at providing emergency NICU care to infants on the way to the hospital.

The service — Manipal Ambulance Response Service-Neonatal-Care on Wheels (MARS-NOW) — will be available to patients visiting Manipal and other hospitals in Bengaluru and its peripheral areas. It is mainly for babies born preterm, with cardiac or neurological disorders, breathing problems, and those requiring surgery, among others.

Each ambulance will have infant incubators, heart and lung monitors, high-frequency and conventional ventilators, nitric oxide administration, and advanced vehicle suspension for a smooth ride.

The new ambulances would protect critically ill babies, who might otherwise be exposed to shock, temperature fluctuation or stress in regular vehicles, said a hospital press release.

The service currently includes four ambulances, each with neonatal teams comprising consultants, nurses, paramedics and transport registrars, said Dr Karthik Nagesh, neonatology department head at Manipal Hospitals, Old Airport Road.

Two of the ambulances are dedicated for Manipal's patients and the remaining two for other hospitals in the city.

Actor Tara Anuradha was also present on the occasion.