KOCHI: Sabu Thankachan sped as fast as he could. As the 26-year-old rushed through the city at more than 80 km per hour, he deliberately ignored the danger he was putting himself and the patient to. The scenario is the same with all the 90-odd ambulances that criss-cross Kochi every day. With the screaming siren and incessant honking clearing the way ahead, ambulance drivers like Sabu ensure that no traffic block is big enough to stop them from reaching their destination on time. While driving at such speeds on the city roads will surely spell doom for a normal vehicle, ambulance drivers somehow manage to avoid accidents. “When we drive, knowing that a life depends on us, our entire concentration will be on the road. Even a slight distraction would mean disaster. Everyday I make at least two trips to drop patients to and from hospitals. Rush hour is the time when it is most risky. Though most of the other vehicles give way, there are people who do not budge. But that is because they do not hear the siren through their rolled up windows,” said Sabu, who has been an ambulance driver for the past seven years. “Thankfully I have never faced a situation in which a patient died owing to my fault,” he added. Though the hospitals have their own ambulances, most of the time private ambulance services are relied upon. “Being an ambulance driver means being ready all the time. Sometimes we get emergency calls at 2 in the morning. Since it is a question of life and death, we rush to the spot without complaining,” said Dennis Paul, the owner of Cochin Emergency Ambulance Services. “I have been in this field for the past 20 years and I have seen that only the toughest survive here. We not only have to deal with erratic timings but also have to help carry the patients, no matter what condition they are in. So most of the drivers drop out after a certain period,” he added.Hospitals in the city stated that around 10 to 30 ambulances visit them to drop patients in any given day.
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