Developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the guidelines provide a comprehensive national framework for standardising ambulance services and strengthening emergency medical transport systems across all states and Union territories.
Ambulance services constitute the first critical link in the emergency medical response chain, providing pre-hospital care, patient stabilisation, safe transport and timely referral to appropriate healthcare facilities.
The guidelines aim to establish uniform standards to ensure quality, accessibility, efficiency and responsiveness of ambulance services across the country, a ministry statement said.
The guidelines will lay down operational norms across the entire continuum of emergency medical transportation.
These include ambulance categorisation; population-based deployment planning; human resource requirements; equipment, medicines and consumables; training and skill standards for emergency medical technicians (EMTs); infection prevention and control measures; vehicle maintenance protocols; performance monitoring systems; and grievance redressal mechanisms, the statement said.
The guidelines also mandate compliance of all ambulances with the AIS-125 standards, ensuring enhanced safety, quality and standardisation of emergency medical vehicles, it said.
The guidelines will promote the establishment of integrated command and dispatch centres (ICDCs) equipped with GPS-enabled ambulance tracking, call logging systems, structured triage protocols, standardised dispatch mechanisms and real-time performance dashboards, the statement said.
They also encourage the progressive integration of ambulance services with the unified emergency response number 112 across all states and UTs, enabling faster and more coordinated emergency response.
To further strengthen emergency referral systems, the guidelines envision GIS-enabled mapping of health facilities, referral centres, ambulance base locations, accident-prone and high-risk areas, bed availability and critical care readiness, the statement said.
This integrated approach will enable the dispatch teams to identify and transport patients to the most appropriate healthcare facility in the shortest possible time.
Recognising the importance of evidence-based planning, the guidelines recommend scientific ambulance deployment based on analysis of emergency call volumes, accident hotspots, referral patterns, traffic conditions, and terrain and geographical accessibility, thereby ensuring optimal utilisation of ambulance resources and improved response time, the statement said.
The release of the operational guidelines will mark a significant milestone in strengthening India's emergency healthcare delivery system, it said.
