Opening the Life-lane.

While the report of Chennai police making elaborate arrangements to ensure a donated heart reached intended recipient in quick time was very heartening, the amount of enthusiasm this report was received on the social networking platforms is more a reflection of the sorry state of emergency services in our major cities. Particularly in rush hour traffic in our major cities and highway jams which tend to last for hours the ability of an ambulance to reach hospitals in time would mean the difference between life and death.

Unfortunately, it is not a very uncommon sight, ambulances stuck in rush-hour Mumbai or Delhi traffic. And while I've encountered ignorance and apathy in equal measure by fellow drivers (which I find profoundly disheartening), part of the reason is, in the chaos and noise of our cities we are not very sensitized to the sounds and signs of medical emergencies and neither are we trained to be particularly cognizant of our driving surroundings if and when we do "learn" driving. Which in turn affects the acuity and quality of our response to an ambulance (or any emergency vehicle) behind us. To make matters worse, while advanced countries lay enormous emphasis on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to achieve synchronization, traffic system in India can range right from Stone Age (manually controlled traffic signals in Kolkata) to modern (Lutyen's Delhi). In a country where 290 people die and over 1200 are injured every day in road accidents alone (source: ICMR), a permanent and more lasting solution is desperately needed.

Many solution models exist around the world which range from creation of basic traffic infrastructure to creation of elaborate systems to ease the flow of emergency vehicles. Basic infrastructure seems like the stepping stone to achieving a creditable emergency response system. Kuala Lumpur is one of the cities which has a dedicated emergency lane in blue on major roads where driving discipline is admirably followed even during rush hour traffic. But in a country where basic traffic rules are flouted both out of ignorance and arrogance as an unsettling routine, that kind of sensitization / education and even basic respect for life would take years to achieve.

Additionally the ratio of Emergency response team personnel managing smooth traffic per incident, can never be anywhere close to what the advanced countries manage, because of the sheer weight of the population. Therefore basic tasks like managing Advance Warning Areas to clear traffic (sort of like what happens when a VIP passes in state capitals) are not even attempted. Which means adding manpower (while being necessary and perhaps a more profitable use of mandatory "government job vacancies" ) would not resolve it alone. It is thus that one wonders if the answer lies in rapidly evolving technology around traffic both directed at emergency service or aiding personal transportation.

The basic steps towards a resolution are clear. Uniformity in Traffic Control Devices. Creation of a team whose specific job it is to manage emergency traffic. And basic capability to coordinate with regular traffic management. Traffic Signal Preemption is one such system which allows the normal operation of traffic lights to be preempted such that they can be manipulated to assist rapid travel for the route carrying an emergency vehicle. This is achieved by stopping conflicting traffic (traffic perpendicular to / merging) with emergency vehicle and allowing the emergency vehicle right of way. Additionally, UK had evaluated transponders in all emergency vehicles which would give them the ability to change traffic lights from a distance, via sensors fitted n traffic lights. While this solves the problem for smooth flow through conflicting traffic, it does not quite solve the problem of competing traffic (traffic in the same direction as the emergency vehicle) which remains the core problem. It is here that we need an innovative solution to be layered on to a TSP equivalent.

It is after these simpler aspects are achieved that the complexities arise.

1. Is there even a set of do's and don't people "know": Creation of Life-Lane protocol to allow emergency vehicles to pass.

2. How do we let people imbibe these: Training and education of drivers on the protocol. 

3. Implementation of the protocol itself

4. Implementation: Information  Flow - In the maddening chaos that Indian traffic is, how do we make drivers aware of an emergency vehicle behind them.

5. Implementation: Once aware, is there even space for them to actually cede way? If not what is an alternative?
6. Ambulance Management.

among others..

The moment you begin to identify problems, multiple ideas pop up right away in your mind which could easily handle each of these. For example RTO Jaipur launched a brilliant campaign where errant drivers had a court mandated 2 hour "Driving Basics" session to attend before they could get their licence back. This could be made slightly stricter by suspending the licence of the driver pending an "Emergency Driving Protocol" session instead of fines. This would be followed by a 2 day session at driving schools to understand how to follow it on the road. The fine would instead becoming fee for the driving school. And if the driver errs next time, the driving school is fined along with the driver. Also designating the first lane or first lane on the opposite side of the road and color coding it could let people know which lane to vacate for an emergency vehicle. The opposite lane would also provide for smoother passage given traffic flow seems to be unidirectional. The color code created for this could be added to traffic signals as an additional Distress Light. If the light is turned on, both the traffic and the traffic personnel are warned of an impending emergency vehicle. An advance warning area therefore begins to be vacated. While the ambulance receives the distress call, basis location of the patient, they key in a probable return path via GPS. Which in turn helps turn on Distress Lights.

The solution obviously sounds way more simplistic and does not account for a million complexities. But the purpose here is not to solve the problem. The purpose here is to, at a bare minimum, get an argument going. And perhaps build a semblance of sensitivity.

And maybe...we could be opening the Life-lane for someone.