Ambulance strike at DMCH suspended for seven days

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Private ambulance operators at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) have suspended their strike for seven days following talks with hospital authorities, allowing ambulance services to gradually return to normal.

Badal Matbar, general secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Private Ambulance Owners Welfare Cooperative Association, confirmed the decision on Wednesday.

He said the association suspended the protest on humanitarian grounds, considering the difficulties faced by patients and their families, particularly those travelling to Dhaka from distant areas.

Association leaders initially met DMCH Director Brig Gen AKM Farhad Hossain to discuss resolving the dispute. Following the meeting, members held an internal discussion and agreed to suspend the strike temporarily.

Farhad said the hospital’s situation would be observed over the next seven days before authorities decided on further steps. He emphasised that DMCH plays a central role in patient care and that medical services must not be disrupted.

The strike began on Tuesday evening, with private ambulance operators demanding permanent parking facilities inside the hospital premises.

After drivers removed their vehicles from the hospital grounds, patients and relatives struggled to arrange transportation until Wednesday afternoon. Some families were unable to take deceased relatives home or transfer critically injured and oxygen-dependent patients to other hospitals.

In some cases, desperate families resorted to using CNG-powered auto-rickshaws to transport critically ill patients.

Following the suspension of the strike, ambulance services and emergency patient transfers began returning to normal on Wednesday evening.