Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday instructed for deployment of eight advanced life support ambulances (ALS) in the affected districts of Bihar to contain the situation arising due to the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome cases in the state.
The Minister said eight additional advanced life support ambulances have been pressed into service for transportation of critical patients under National Health Mission (NHM).
The central teams of 10 pediatricians and five para-medics sent yesterday, have been deployed in the field and have started working in coordination with the state government.
Vardhan added that 16 senior district officials and medical personnel have been sent to the vulnerable blocks for monitoring and early identification of cases and ensuring daily reporting. Their headquarters have also been shifted to these blocks also.
He said the District Collector (DC) has now got involved and is personally taking responsibility.Vardhan has deputed the Senior Deputy Collectors (SDC)/District level officers to lead various block teams.
These teams will be assisted by a district level Medical Officer and Medical Officer in charge (MOIC) to do the overall work at block level. He added that the state has been given instructions to switch to daily surveillance and monitoring for detecting early warning signs of the disease, the Minister said.
