Indian Railways to replace locomotive hauled Accident Relief Medical Vans with Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans

Indian Railways plans to replace locomotive-hauled Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) with Self Propelled Accident Relief Medical Vans (SPARMVs) to improve response during a disaster.

"Specification of high-speed Self Propelled Accident Relief Trains (HS-SPARTs) with a speed of 160 kmph has been finalized and it is planned to be procured in addition to existing 110 kmph SPART. Further, to improve the capacity during restoration, 175 Tonnes cranes are under procurement which is an upgradation over existing 140 T cranes available with Indian Railways. The concept of the golden hour has also been recognised to expedite response time during a disaster," the Ministry of Railways said in a release.

The main areas of focus on disaster management are - Faster Response, Better facilities and equipment, Expanding resources to meet requirements in major accidents, Coordination with other agencies of central and state governments, Training and Preparedness.

"Indian Railways has an organized system of relief for managing accidents with its own resources. It consists of more than 6 thousand trained breakdown staff, 176 Accident Relief Trains (ARTs) and 86 Accident Relief Medical Vans (ARMVs) made using passenger coaches. All Accident Relief Trains and Accident Relief Medical Vans have pre-defined beats, inspection schedules and response time. In addition, there are 90 Break down Cranes of various capacities over Indian Railway system," the Indian Railways said.

All equipment in Accident Relief Trains and Accident Relief Medical Equipments have been standardized based on High-Level Committee recommendations.

Some of the items being imported for rescue, relief and restoration are - Medical equipments like Augmented first aid box, body bags, foldable chairs, portable fire extinguishers, operation theatre equipments, etc, Hydraulic Re-railing equipments (HRE), Emergency Pneumatic airbags for lifting, Generators & Electrical equipment, Hydraulic rescue device (HRD), Wire rope sling & shackles, Fire fighting equipments, Abrasive cutting tools, Signaling & communication equipments.

Indian Railways also conducts periodic mock drills with National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for training and ensuring preparedness during a disaster.