Automated green corridor for ambulances from this year

According to the initiative coordinated by the Transport Department and traffic police, traffic signals will be fitted with a sensor that can detect approaching ambulances within 100 metres and turn the light to green.

According to officials, the project taken up by GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute along with the State Health Department will take off this year. The initiative is a part of smart city project funded by the Japan International Co-operational Agency (JICA).

“New smart ambulance vehicles will be launched by the State Health Transport Department for this purpose. They will be designed with sensors that can send signals to the nearest traffic signal on the route. On receiving it, the traffic signal will turn green automatically. The green corridor will help to reduce the response time of ambulances and prioritise the trauma victims,” said M Selvakumar, State head of operations, GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute.

Traffic signals will be operated by using GPRS device messages. As the specially designed ambulance will be within a range of about 100 meters from the signal, the GPRS devices, through cloud, will communicate to the nearing signal and it will be turned to green if it is red.

Traffic city officials say that the new system will enable a green corridor for ambulance service on the road automatically with the help of Automatic Traffic Counter cum Classifier System (ATCC).

“ATCC is high-speed traffic data collection system. It provides a low cost means of recording vehicle classification without interrupting the traffic flow. ATCCs are compatible with many modes of data collection and has the flexibility to interface with a variety of different equipment like CCTV, VMS, Modem etc. ATCC is accompanied with user-friendly software which can collect data like speed, length, axle spacing, headway, number of axles, time & date etc.,” said the official.

The State Transport Department is also a part of the initiative and the number of traffic signal points from the current 383 will be increased to 403 in coordination with the city traffic police. Several issues such as constricted roads, flooding, absence of constant road width, dysfunctional traffic signals and absence of footpaths will be addressed in the identified areas before the initiative is kick-started, assured an official from the Transport Department.

This apart, the specially designed smart ambulances will have several sensors to monitor the status of vital parameters of a trauma victim, including heart rate, blood pressure and ECG. The reports of the victim’s vitals will be sent to the hospital’s database.