Bangladesh is to launch its first coordinated post-crash emergency response system, deploying 60 basic life support ambulances along three national highway corridors in a World Bank-funded pilot aimed at bringing road accident victims under medical care within the critical first hour.

The ambulances will be stationed at 10-kilometre intervals on the Joydebpur-Tangail-Rajshahi, Joydebpur-Mymensingh and Hatikumrul-Rangpur routes, with the service planned to begin later this month or early next month, according to the Roads and Highways Department.

Each vehicle will carry a trained paramedic alongside the driver, providing on-site initial treatment before transporting the injured to the nearest appropriate hospital. The entire network will be monitored from a central control room using GPS trackers, enabling dispatchers to send the closest ambulance immediately upon receiving an accident report. The service will be free of charge, with the service provider’s costs borne by the project. The Directorate General of Health Services will ensure the necessary infrastructure, medical equipment and staffing in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

The initiative falls under the Bangladesh Road Safety Project. Officials described it as an integrated post-crash emergency medical response system rather than simply an ambulance service. Many crash victims currently die or suffer permanent disability in the first hour because of a lack of ambulances, trained personnel and prompt access to necessary medical equipment, they said.

Local residents and volunteers living near the highways will also receive first-aid training and be supplied with first-aid kits to provide initial assistance until ambulances arrive.

Beyond emergency medical response, the project will introduce road design improvements, signage and road markings, safe pedestrian crossings and speed-control measures along the same corridors. Traffic and highway police will receive modern equipment, and technology-based surveillance, including CCTV cameras monitored from a central control room, will be deployed to detect speeding and overloaded vehicles. The Roads and Highways Department, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, police and the health directorate will work jointly on the programme.

Mohammad Shabbir Hasan Khan, project director and an additional chief engineer at the Roads and Highways Department, said the pilot’s experience and success would determine future expansion. “We plan to formally launch the operation of the 60 ambulances this month,” he told Bonik Barta. “This is a pilot. Based on its experience and success, we’ll expand similar post-crash emergency services to other national highways in the future.”