Pune is facing a shortage of ambulance services, so a couple has converted their van into an ambulance and now is helping underprivileged people reach the hospital on time without paying any charges.

Pune, India – Deepa and Deepak Parab train women bouncers at Ranragini Self Defence Academy, Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Swargate, which is currently closed due to the pandemic. As they understood that the city needed an ambulance.

A new ambulance for Pune emergency service: the couple donation

Deepa reported on Hindustimes: “We started the ambulance service in the second week of May. We initiated it after one of my students lost her father due to Covid-19 and as the ambulance owner was asking them to pay Rs 3,500 for a ferry, they couldn’t afford it. Whenever we get a call for ambulance services anywhere in the city we rush to help. Two doctors are my friends and they help me take the patients to the hospital. Till now, we have ferried over 50 patients to the hospital of which two were pregnant women and two were senior citizens.”

Rafiq Shaikh, a resident of Swargate, said, “My father was unwell during the lockdown period and he suffers from a heart condition. We wanted to take him to the hospital, but the ambulance service was not available. My friend gave me the number of Parab and because of them, we could take my father to the hospital on time.”

Ask Deepa – how she manages to serve people when her own business is in a mess due to lockdown restrictions and she says, “A bouncer’s work is to protect people, so what if I not able to train bouncers, I am still protecting the needy by making available an ambulance service for them.”

To support themselves financially – the couple sells sanitisers and also offer services to sanitise houses.

“Along with the selling of sanitisers, we also provide services of sanitisation of homes. My husband or I visit homes wearing PPE kits and charge only Rs 1,000. Of Rs 1,000 that we get, Rs 500 is for the social cause,” said Deepa. Deepak himself drives the ambulance as it saves money spent on drivers, she says.

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