The sale of crackers in the pre-Diwali market has not been not very sparkling this year. But, what has made for it is the low number of emergencies that bring gloom in many families during the festive season.
Data shared by GVK EMRI (108 emergency medical services ) shows that this Diwali has been the safest over the last two years in the state.
The three-day festival, comprising Diwali, New Year and Bhai Duj, has seen only 9538 emergency calls, a drop by 11% as compared to 2016 and a dip by 8.19% compared to 2015. According to 108 data, 10,764 emergency calls were made in 2016 and 10,389 in 2015.
In Ahmedabad district, only 1527 emergency calls were made against an expected average of 1758 calls, a slip by almost 13%.
According to Jashvant Prajapati, chief operating officer (COO) of GVK EMRI, there are three reasons that led to the fall in numbers.
"The number of road accidents has severely fallen this year. A good infrastructure and increased awareness led to a safer festival this year," said Prajapati. The social media and no-cracker campaigns delivered good results, the COO added.
"We've had some employee unrest and some even spread rumours that the service is not available, which was not the case. That might be one of the reasons," said Prajapati. Also, the tribal districts such as The Dangs, Tapi, and Aravali saw a drop in cases of emergency, the data said.
The highest number of calls were made for pregnancy-related issues, which stood at 2368. It was followed by vehicular trauma in 1301 cases. Acute abdominal issues (793) and fever and infection (415) cases came next.
The data of 108 emergency services also hints at an improvement in the health-related cases. The Ahmedabad Medical Association, which first began a Doctor on Call service particularly for Diwali days eight years ago, believes this was perhaps the safest Diwali so far. "We are still collecting data, but commenting on the basis of the information collected so far I must say it was a truly was a Happy Diwali.The incidents of burns and other accidents were low," said Dr Pragnesh Vachharajani, programme coordinator for Doctor on Call. He credited the increased awareness about precautions necessary while bursting crackers and consuming food as the reason why emergencies are going down every year.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Bursting Crackers")
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}