Royal Enfield Classic 350CC modified into bike ambulance Rakshita by DRDO, CRPF

As many as 21 'Rakshita'- bike ambulances were inducted into Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Monday for the evacuation of the security force personnel in remote regions.

Dr AP Maheshwari, DG CRPF and Dr AK Singh, DS & DG (LS), DRDO unveiled the bike ambulance today at CRPF Headquarters in New Delhi developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with CRPF for golden hour life-saving aid and evacuation.

DG CRPF expressed his gratitude to team INMAS for their unrelenting efforts put in developing the bike ambulance and commended their tireless dedication and professional efficiency.

"In its endeavour to provide impregnable internal security to the nation, CRPF is actively deployed across the country. Most of these deployments are in remote and inhospitable areas like Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas, North East, etc. where evacuation of sick or battle injured personnel becomes a challenge. Many times, late evacuation results in the loss of precious lives of CRPF. To mitigate this, in 2018 CRPF approached INMAS with the idea of developing an ambulance on motorbikes which is frequently used by CRPF for patrolling in these theatres," said Dr AK Singh, DS & DG (LS), DRDO.

He further said that the INMAS promptly put up a team of scientists and experts to make the idea a reality. The team developed a prototype and improved it with the feedback from CRPF personnel deployed in disturbed areas.

Carefully custom-built to the needs of an emergency evacuation, Rakshita is built on a Royal Enfield Classic 350CC and comes with quick fit in and fit out casualty evacuation seat (CSE) that has customised design reclining, hand immobilizer and harness jacket, physiological parameter measuring equipment with monitoring capability and auto warning system for the driver, dashboard-mounted LCD for measuring vital parameters, air splint medical and oxygen kit, saline and oxygen administration on the move, adjustable footrest, and hand and foot strap for safety among others.

This equipment makes Rakshita on-spot medical care and injured transport system which is not just indigenous and cost-effective but can also reach inaccessible or remote locations by traversing unmotorable roads, narrow streets, congested or unpaved roads that are otherwise inaccessible by the conventional four-wheeled ambulances.