Importance of private ambulance v/s Government Ambulance 108

The government solely uses its ambulances to take patients to government hospitals, despite the fact that it has included (empanelled) private institutions in its major programmes.It is not permitted for the ambulances operated by 108 emergency response services to transport patients to private hospitals. Health campaigners have called for a modification in this rule, arguing that in an emergency, an ambulance should be permitted to transport the patient to any hospital, public or private.Even if a patient calls the 108 ambulance service because they are having a heart attack, the ambulance will not take them to the private hospital that is closest to them and has all the amenities; instead, they will go to a government hospital that might not have the "necessary" amenities to save the patient's life.With so many private hospitals in the state now affiliated with the government's Chiranjeevi health insurance programme, providing public ambulance services to transfer patients to private hospitals can be seriously considered. Access to ambulance services is essential for emergency medical care.