What do you do when you see an
Ambulance struggling for its way in the middle of a traffic fiasco? While you ponder
over this tough question, I would like to share with you a recent experience of
mine which really touched my heart and made be believe that there’s still good
left in the society.
Here I go!
It’s a routine for many of us to
push our way ahead, honking, saving our vehicle from all sides screaming at
others, getting screamed at, calling out names (with windows closed) while on
our way in heavy traffic during peak office hours.
I’m no different. In the middle of
this mess one day, I noticed a man in a green shirt (I have a so called short
term memory so this has to be really inspirational if I remember the color of
his shirt) waving frantically at me in my side view mirror and constantly
honking to force me to make way. In routine circumstances, I would have
increased the volume of my car stereo and would have chosen to completely
ignore him but, since I was running late and suffering from lose stomach
accompanied by high temperature (in short Viral fever) I was at the peak of my
worst mood ever and I wanted to just get out of the car and give the man a
piece of my mind. All of this happened within just a fraction of a second and
it took me a while to realize that the sound of an ambulance siren which I was
hearing from the past few minutes had suddenly got louder and seemed closer to
me now. I didn’t take much time to put things together and figure out that he
was actually clearing way for the ambulance and I swiftly dodged my car to one
side giving way to both the vehicles. My anger for the man suddenly turned into
respect and I started following this biker and ambulance for the sheer
curiosity of knowing if the “the Sagacious Fellow” is able to get the ambulance
out of the traffic mania and If I could be of any help to them. I could only do
this for a while to the best of my capacity as my other road mates started
giving me a hard time.
My heart says he didn’t look like he was related
to the patient as he was dressed for office with his backpack and lunchbox
hanging from one side and seemed as any other biker on his way to office who
just suddenly decides to rescue someone seeking urgent medical help.
Witnessing this short melodrama on
the road that day made me recall all the times I have seen an Ambulance stuck
in traffic and did nothing. I could relate to the desperation the relatives of
the patients would have been going through to get out of the chaos. A question struck me immediately and I would
like to ask you the same, Can our system and more importantly our people not
adapt to a system where they proactively start making way for an ambulance or
we could have a pilot rider making way and clearing the traffic ahead (Remember
the scene in the famous Aamir Khan movie 3 Idiots?) It would not only save time
and help preserve the golden hour of emergency treatment but also increase the
accountability of our citizens in contributing to build a better emergency
healthcare plan for public at large.
-Ms. Ginny Kaushal
Faculty, INLEAD
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