We want to be the largest ambulance service provider in the near future: Naresh Jain, MD, Ziqitza Health Care Limited

From running 1240 ambulances across the country to entering ‘Limca Book of Records 2016’ for conducting the highest number of FRPs (First Aid Responder Programme) workshops, the journey for Ziqitza Health Care Limited (ZHL) has been challenging. Naresh Jain co-founder and Managing Director at ZHL tells FE Online about the company’s future plans. Edited excerpts:

1) Ziqitza, is quite a unique name. What does it mean?  

Ziqitza is a combination of the Sanskrit name Jigyasa (quest for knowledge) and Chikitsa (medical treatment). Ziqitza Healthcare is a leading provider of emergency medical services in India and is committed to raising the benchmark for EMS in urban and rural areas of the country by delivering prompt, consistent and quality pre-hospital patient care.

2) How many ambulances does Ziqitza run? How do people reach out to you?  

Ziqitza runs about 1240 ambulances across the country. Till date, we have served more than 53 lakh people across the nation. We have partnered with the state governments across Odisha, Jharkhand and Punjab where we operate the free 108 ambulance services under the National Health Mission. In addition, we also have helplines like 102, 104, 181, 1033 along with a private pay-per-use model like DIAL 1298.

3) Please provide the overview of the operations of Ziqitza Health Care Ltd in brief.  

Ziqitza has three business verticals that include private business and government business. We started in 2004 where our original business was brand 108. In these years of existence in the industry, we have gradually scaled up our operations.

Once our call centres in the region receives the call, the closest ambulance is identified by the global positioning system (GPS) tracking installed at the call centre and immediately dispatched to pick up and drop the patient the hospital of his/her choice, since the patient pays for the services delivered by the ambulance.

We follow pay-per-use model wherein the user pays as and when he/she uses the service. There is no subscription fee apart from the transportation charges. Currently, Ziqitza is in parts of Mumbai, Kerala and some parts of East India where we run the 108 ambulance stations.

The other part of our business is with the government where we enter into a contract with respective states governments through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) Model. In the PPP Model, Ziqitza provides ambulance services to the entire state or whichever region the government calls for the tender. Depending on the deliverables decided by the government, we are paid for the services that we provide on behalf of the government. Currently our PPP 108 model is present across Odisha, Punjab and parts of Bihar. Additionally, we recently also won the tender in Jharkhand and will soon roll out 329 ambulances in the state.
The third being international business.

4) Tell us more about the ambulances. What are the facilities provided inside the ambulances? Are they fitted with the latest technology and medical equipment?

Our ambulances are fabricated with the best equipment available. The ambulances are categorized in two types: Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support (ALS). While the BLS ambulances have oxygen cylinders, First Aid kits and suction machines, the ALS ambulances are equipped with additional features like ventilators, syringe infusion pump and defibrillators among others. Technology drives the entire network of ambulance services.

We are associated with London Ambulance Service (LAS) which provides training support, staff exchange and special expertise to ZHL. We also partner with New York Presbyterian EMS which is New York City’s largest ambulance service provider.

While ambulance services were available earlier as well, there was a lag in reaching and calling out to them. It is because of IT and telecom infrastructures that we have been able to bridge the gap in this arena.

5)  There are so many private ambulance services. So, how do you compete with them?

While there may be several private ambulance service providers, there is a lack of an organized system in place. Ziqitza was started with the aim to bridge the gap in pre-hospital care and we are proud to say that we have been able to reach out to people across the large expanses of the country.

Most private ambulances are mainly single owned and there is no organized service provider with a fleet of multiple vehicles. This is where we have been instrumental in providing a kind of structure in this space.

Due to our infrastructure, our clients rely on us and trust us in the hours of need. Our competition is not about the cost factors but reliability in the hours of trust and we have been successful in that.

6) The presence of Ziqitza healthcare ltd is in how many states? Do you plan to expand it further? Any plans to go international?  

Currently we are present in 19 states across the country and we are looking at partnerships with other states as well. Under the PPP model, we are associated with Odisha, Jharkhand and Punjab. Internationally, we are currently present in Dubai.

7) What are the future plans of the company?

Ziqitza plans to grow in all the three verticals we are present in, i.e, PPU (fixed contracts), PPP (108 government contracts) and our international services. We plan to be the largest ambulance service provider in the near future where we can reach out to as many people in need as possible. We are also looking at opportunities in Gulf and Africa.

8) Ziqitza Healthcare recently entered ‘Limca Book of Records 2016’ for conducting the highest number of FRPs in Punjab. How difficult or easy was it?

Conducting FRP’s has always been a great experience as more and more people know about how should one react in an emergency situation. The more the people are aware about these basic things the more lives will be saved.

Ziqitza Healthcare Ltd (ZHL) which operates the Dial 108 Emergency Ambulance Service in Punjab trained 14,012 participants in 183 batches in one year (July 2014–June 2015) during the First Aid Responder Programme (FRP) workshops, carried out all over Punjab. We trained people on general principles and methods of First Aid that can come in handy during medical emergencies such as burn cases, heart attack, road accidents, snake bites, wound dressing etc. There are

Our team is extremely well versed with the nuances of providing emergency medical services which made it easier for us to conduct so many FRPs and enter the Limca Book of Records. We intend to continue our work and enter a new record in the coming year as well.