How Gujarat’s 108 Pre‑Hospital Care Transformed Emergency Response
The 108 Emergency Medical Service, launched in Gujarat on August 29, 2007, has redefined how emergencies are handled in the state.
Operating under Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, the programme offers free ambulance dispatch coupled with pre‑hospital medical care, ensuring that critical treatment begins the moment a call is received.
A robust fleet of roughly 1,500 units, including 800 road ambulances, 38 ICU‑on‑wheel trucks, two boat ambulances and an air ambulance, works alongside 586 government health‑centre vehicles to cover even the most remote districts.
By August 2026, the service had responded to more than 19.99 million emergencies—19.6 million medical, 255 thousand police and over 8 thousand fire incidents—saving 1.966 million lives.
The numbers highlight specific areas of impact: 6.297 lakh obstetric cases, 2.418 lakh road‑collision incidents, 1.177 lakh severe breathing emergencies and 9.87 lakh heart‑attack cases were all brought to hospitals within the golden hour.
Ambulances have collectively covered over 62 crore kilometres. Average dispatch time is 13 minutes 9 seconds, and a vehicle departs for a new emergency roughly every 21 seconds, surpassing many international response benchmarks.
Drivers rely on GPS navigation and intimate knowledge of local shortcuts to minimize travel time, while medical technicians are equipped with AEDs, monitors, ventilators and airway‑management kits. When a patient collapses en route, CPR is performed immediately.
The state‑of‑the‑art Emergency Response Centre in Naroda‑Kathwada, Ahmedabad, coordinates daily dispatches, moving an average of 4,780 patients to hospitals each day.
Personal testimonies reinforce the programme’s value: beneficiary Ashok Sadhu likens the swift arrival of a 108 ambulance to a divine messenger, and Mahboob Ali credits the service for his son’s recovery.
Through continuous upgrades—including the addition of air and boat ambulances—Gujarat’s 108 service stands as a model for integrated, pre‑hospital emergency care across India.