Ahmedabad: Cardiac emergencies in Gujarat have risen sharply over the last 15 years, with EMRI 108 data showing that heart-related calls have more than tripled since 2011 even as the overall emergency load has more than doubled. This points to a growing burden of acute chest pain and heart failure cases reaching hospitals by ambulance.
“The rise in respiratory and cardiac emergencies could be seen in the overall share of cases – in 2011, the average monthly emergency calls were 61,816, which has increased to 1.4 lakh in 2026, more than double the rise. The figure could also be seen in perspective of the rise in population and the population covered by the ambulance fleet – compared to 450-odd ambulances 15 years ago, today we have 1,494,” said a senior EMRI official. About two decades ago, the city had 15-20 pulmonologists and chest physicians, which has increased to about 200 today, showing the significant rise in the issue,” he said. Vehicular trauma or injuries in road traffic accidents averaged 597 cases daily in 2026 so far—about one case every 2.5 minutes, according to EMRI data.
Women also form a bulk of the numbers now,” he said. Dr Tushar Patel, a city-based pulmonologist, said that they have also experienced the spike in overall cases. “The spike is dominated by the relatively younger population – the patients that are brought in by EMRI or other ambulances are generally experiencing heart failure or acute chest pain. Respiratory distress is also showing up in higher volumes, with specialists linking the rise to multiple triggers. “It can be attributed to factors ranging from pollution to infections. Beyond medical emergencies, trauma continues to remain a major call category.
In earlier years, the number of ambulances was relatively smaller and thus the data is not comparable, added the official.