Kathmandu, December 10

Nepal Ambulance Service has been awarded with the ‘British Medical Journal Awards South Asia 2018’ in the category of ‘Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Team of the Year’ at the fifth edition of the BMJ Awards amidst a function organised in Chennai on December 1.

The BMJ Awards South Asia this year received more than 1,500 nominations from across  South Asia in categories such as, Excellence in Medical Education,  Healthcare Innovation, and Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Team  of the Year, among others.

President of Nepal Ambulance Service Ranjit Acharya said he was thankful to the British Medical Journal for the award which was the result of NAS’ round-the-clock service.

NAS is a non-profit initiative dedicated to the establishment of an emergency medical response system in Kathmandu and Lalitpur. Anyone can avail ambulance service by dialing emergency toll free number 102. The emergency number is directed to the NAS dispatch centre where an agent screens the call for response details and dispatches the closest available ambulance. NAS is providing international standard health service with the help of emergency medical technicians in each ambulance.

Acharya said NAS aimed to provide rapid ambulance transport to hospitals along with life-saving medical care for the sick and the injured regardless of ability to pay.

NAS operates fully equipped and staffed ambulances via a central dispatch facility with radio communication between area hospitals and ambulances in order to ensure rapid transport and treatment for individual patients.