Ambulance dispatch has always been a problem in Kathmandu. Until recently NAS has had to rely on mobile phones to communicate between the dispatch centre and ambulances – and mobile phone service in Kathmandu is notoriously unreliable.
Since NAS was formally launched in 2011 the service has not been allowed to use radio communications due to holdover security concerns resulting from the decade long Maoist insurgency 1996-2006.
In April of 2020 this prohibition finally came to an end when NAS was able to install a walkie-talkie repeater on a city rooftop and begin using VHF communications between dispatcher base and ambulance vehicles. Read you loud and clear.
