The 10-Minute Response: Building Speed and Strength in Emergency Preparedness

Contributed by Prabhdeep Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, RED HealthDuring a medical emergency, the initial minutes tend to determine the patient's outcome in the long run. The "10-minute response" target is aimed at providing assured access to trained care to an individual in that timeframe. It can make a serious difference in survival rates and recovery. India currently stands at 49th position out of 89 nations in the 2025 Health Index, a reminder of the distance left to achieve in establishing responsive healthcare structures. India has now surpassed China as the most populous country with over 1.44 billion people in our own country and this comes with pride and responsibility both. This milestone raises a pressing question. Do we have the medical infrastructure and response capability to match our demographic scale? The availability of only 15,283 BLS (Basic Life Support) ambulances, 3,918 Patient Transport Vehicles (PTVs) and 3,044 Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances should be a national concern. For a country of over 1.4 billion, this is a call to action. Our country's vast geography as well as diverse terrains and gaps in infrastructure are also adding on to the challenges, especially in rural and hilly regions where road connectivity is constrained. Ambulances cannot consistently reach these areas, making deployment patchy and, at times, unreliable. In a nation as diverse as ours, it takes a lot including discipline, strategic foresight, planning and dedication to provide equal and widespread access to healthcare services. Creating a Unified Emergency Response Framework Fragmented services cause delays in the most critical moments. A connected framework can bring public and private emergency providers onto a single network that operates with clarity and speed. This further means linking regional control rooms, ensuring GPS navigation in every ambulance, and creating standard communication protocols between field teams and hospitals. The result is a smooth line from the first call to hospital admission. With advanced dispatch and location tracking, the closest ambulance can be sent immediately, saving precious minutes. Our long-term vision must be to establish a nationwide command grid where no emergency call goes unanswered and every location is within a 10-minute reach, regardless of geography. However, achieving this in India will require connectivity backed by a strategic placement of vehicles in high-priority zones identified through rigorous data analysis. Strategic Deployment of Advanced Life Support Units Ambulances with essential life-saving equipment can make the difference between life and loss. Advanced Life Support (ALS) units equipped with ventilators, defibrillators, and monitoring devices enable paramedics to stabilize patients on the way to the hospital. Placing these units in high-demand areas such as accident-prone roads, crowded markets, and industrial clusters ensures they are close to likely emergencies. In a nation with heavy traffic, narrow roads, and rough terrain, response speeds are inevitably challenged. That is why identifying and continuously updating operational “hotspots” for ALS deployment must be a national priority. This involves mapping zones by emergency call density, accident history, and population concentration and in the future, moving towards predictive deployment based on live traffic, weather, and large public gatherings. Data-Driven Planning & Bolstering Human Response Layer Data, apart from being a record of past incidents, is a tool to direct the future of emergency care. By examining trends in past incidents, it is easier to know where emergencies happen most often. This can inform the placement of ambulances, training for local responders, and supplies that need to be stocked. It can also identify the time of day or season when a particular emergency happens most often so that staffing schedules can be planned accordingly. By monitoring performance metrics like average response time, patient outcomes, and equipment availability, adjustments can be made in real time. For India, data-led decision-making is essential to overcome geographical and infrastructural constraints, and every minute saved translates directly into lives saved. Equipment delivers its value only when handled by trained professionals. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and paramedics are the first medical contact for many patients, making their expertise essential. Their training should follow global standards such as those set by the American Heart Association (AHA) for life support and resuscitation. Regular updates, certification renewals, simulation drills and scenario-based learning can ensure readiness all times. Clear career pathways and recognition programs can also help retain experienced personnel. The ultimate goal must be for every paramedic in India to match the skill and confidence of the best emergency networks globally so that care quality is never dictated by geography. Building Digital Readiness & Taking Early Action Speed in emergencies is also about information flow. Digital tools can connect ambulances to hospitals in real time, so doctors are ready before the patient arrives. With 5G-enabled communication, vital signs can be shared instantly. This ensures hospitals prepare equipment, specialist teams, and treatment plans without delay. When combined with hotspot-based deployment, digital tracking can ensure ambulances are positioned to respond within the 10-minute target, even in high-traffic cities or remote rural belts. Preparedness starts prior to ambulance response. If the public is aware of the warning signs of a heart attack, stroke, or serious injury, they can call for assistance earlier. Training citizens not only in CPR but also in the correct use of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) and bleeding control enables them to act within the first few minutes. AEDs are appearing in more public spaces, but without citizen training, their potential remains untapped. Public medical kits located in transportation centres, stadiums, and shopping malls can have life-saving equipment available until professional rescue arrives. Takeaway The 10-minute response is not an aspiration, it must be our standard. India’s unique operational challenges demand a layered approach, strategic vehicle placement in mapped hotspots, data-led decision-making, global-standard training, and active citizen participation. As a nation, we must treat the 10-minute target as a non-negotiable benchmark for readiness. Policymakers, healthcare leaders and citizens must unite to create a system where every emergency receives a rapid, capable, and coordinated response. Every life saved in those first 10 minutes is proof that preparedness is the best investment we can make.

The 10-Minute Response: Building Speed and Strength in Emergency Preparedness

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The 10-Minute Response: Building Speed and Strength in Emergency Preparedness