How Was the Indian Healthcare and Emergency Service Launched?

This is a true story of one couple, Mr. Subroto Das and Mrs. Sushmita that successfully worked hard to improve India’s health care delivery systems since 1999.

A while ago we welcomed this couple for a private tour in Portugal. They were very friendly, modest and kind people and they spent a few days discovering Portugal with us.

After the end of the tour we shared with Mr. Subroto our commitment with a non-profit organization, that consists on a percentage of our profits that reverts to AMI (International Medical Assistance), who provides meals for those in need.

Then Mr. Subroto told us that he and his wife had created the first emergency medical system in India (like 112 in Portugal or 911 in USA). As a socially responsible company we felt that we should share with everyone this story of commitment and passion to improve India’s health care delivery systems:

After two personal traumatic experiences, first, Subroto lost a friend to a road accident because help did not arrive in time and then he, his wife, and a friend were involved in a nasty road traffic crash, stranded with their injuries for nearly five hours before someone stopped to help. Even after help arrived, it took hours for them to reach the nearest hospital.

Subroto, the second ever medical graduate trained in hospital administration in the state of Gujarat, India, decided that he could not let such misfortune continue to fall on others. The couple worked to ensure that lives weren’t lost on the Indian highways since its traumatic experience in 1999 and Lifeline Foundation and the Highway Rescue Service were launched in 2002.

Since then Lifeline Foundation has worked determinedly to institutionalize Emergency Medical Services (EMS) – its infrastructure, training and credentialing of paramedics, universal access number, ambulance standards and most significantly, EMS legislation. It has helped catalyze the 108 system in India and worked with its partners for the 110 system in Sri Lanka besides working with stakeholders in Turkey, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Besides pioneering the Highway EMS, Lifeline works in several other projects like: providing EMS to Corporate India, training in Pre-hospital care/first aid, medical support for the marginalized (Medical Appliances Bank) and medical preparedness and disaster risk reduction.

If you want to know more about this Foundation or contribute with your knowledge or help please check their website at: www.emsindia.in.

We also invite you to check the AMI’s website that as we said previously, is a Portuguese private, non-profitable and independent, non-governmental Organization.