SOS: Make Way For The Ambulance

On the 108 ambulance service, negotiating Mumbai city traffic.

In September, last year, Mumbai Traffic Police started the ‘Make Way for Ambulance’ campaign to help ambulances negotiate the sprawling city’s dense traffic.

The ‘108’ ambulance, a free service offered by the Maharashtra government, is a public-private initiative with the diversified services company, the BVG group. Each of the 141 ambulances on the service are manned by a driver or ‘pilot’ and the Emergency Medical Service Provider. The 108 number receives 800 calls every day, of which 250 are genuine emergencies.

The BOOM crew did two runs on the 108 service between Sant Muktabai Hospitral in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar suburb and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital (Sion Hospital). Play the video to experience what it’s like to be in a medical emergency in the middle of Mumbai’s maddening traffic.