Ahmedabad, Nov 9 (IANS) Emergency medical service calls in Gujarat increased by 13.12 per cent during Diwali this year, with the 108 ambulance service recording 5,934 emergencies compared with 5,246 on normal days.
Vehicular trauma cases witnessed a particularly sharp rise, increasing by 87.49 per cent, while non-vehicular trauma cases went up by 75.17 per cent.
According to the emergency response data, the number of vehicular trauma cases rose from 646 on normal days to 1,212 during Diwali.
Non-vehicular trauma emergencies increased from 595 to 1,043, indicating a substantial rise in both categories of injury-related calls during the festival.
Pregnancy-related emergencies remained the largest category in the normal-day comparison, although calls declined marginally from 1,194 to 1,151, a fall of 3.58 per cent.
Emergencies categorised as “unknown problems” increased from 610 to 661, registering an 8.39 per cent rise.
Among other medical emergencies, calls related to abdominal pain declined from 673 to 528, a decrease of 21.50 per cent. Breathing-related emergencies fell from 448 to 383, while cardiac emergencies declined from 313 to 285, down 14.56 per cent and 8.82 per cent, respectively.
High-fever cases recorded the largest decline among the listed medical categories, falling from 303 on normal days to 209 during Diwali, a reduction of 31.09 per cent.
Convulsion and fits-related emergencies decreased from 137 to 124, while stroke and paralysis cases fell from 48 to 40. In contrast, poisoning and toxicology-related emergencies increased from 124 to 131, a rise of 5.28 per cent.
Diabetic emergencies also increased by 26.19 per cent, from 84 to 106. Calls classified under “other emergencies” declined from 70 to 61, a fall of 13.21 per cent. The 108 service also recorded 62 burn-related emergencies during Diwali.
Ahmedabad accounted for the highest number with 13 cases, followed by Surat with 12. Kachchh and Rajkot reported five cases each, while Gandhinagar and Vadodara recorded four each. Anand, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Narmada, Tapi and Valsad reported two burn emergencies each.
Banaskantha, Botad, Kheda, Mehsana, Morbi, Porbandar and Surendranagar recorded one case each.
The data showed that trauma-related emergencies were the main categories to witness increases during the festival, while several medical categories, including high fever, abdominal pain, breathing problems and cardiac emergencies, recorded fewer calls than on normal days
–IANS
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