Express News Service
ERNAKULAM: Come rain or sunshine, Sunitha R is ready to show heads whereas zipping alongside the roads of Kochi in her autorickshaw ambulance ferrying Covid sufferers. Among the 18 volunteer drivers chosen for the autorickshaw ambulance service, the 42-year-old is presumably the lone girl within the state to step ahead to serve Covid sufferers in that method.
The autorickshaw ambulance — a novel venture mooted by the Kochi company in affiliation with German improvement company Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH — will probably be rolled out on Monday. “I know this is not an easy job. But during this pandemic, this is the best service I can offer society which is reeling in despair,” says Sunitha.
The autorickshaw ambulance can have medical oxygen facility and pressing medical care tools, with drivers in PPE kits. She has been driving her autorickshaw across the state’s business capital for the previous 9 years. And she has seen how the town has advanced.
“There are a lot of people risking their lives by opting to work during the pandemic. I decided to take up the opportunity to be an autorickshaw ambulance driver and I’m happy to join the battle against Covid,” says Sunitha, a member of the CPM Kadavanthra native committee.
Sunitha additionally attended a coaching given by specialists together with medical doctors to change into an autorickshaw ambulance driver, which handled find out how to work together with Covid sufferers, find out how to put on a PPE equipment and security measures to practise whereas on obligation. Her dedication has drawn extensive reward too. “This is a brave decision by Sunitha. The Kochi corporation will provide all support to the initiative,” says Mayor M Anilkumar.
The emergency service will begin on Monday within the metropolis to cater to the wants of Covid sufferers. The companies embrace transporting them to hospitals, guaranteeing the provision of medicines, oximeter and thermometer for them en route, and facilitating the motion of medical workers to sufferers’ houses.
Daughter of the late Raghavan and Sumathi, Sunitha has two brothers. She misplaced her father 12 years in the past. After finishing pre-degree, she selected to review portray however couldn’t proceed in that area. In 2005, she obtained a driving license and opted to change into an autorickshaw driver and acquired an autorickshaw in 2012.
She operates out of the autorickshaw stand on KP Vallon Road alongside as many as 100 different autorickshaws. Everyone has been cooperative, she says. “I am happy with the job. The other drivers treated me more like a co-worker than a woman. I go on night trips too. But I have never had to face any issue as a woman,” she says.
