Expressnews
Valued at Rs 31 lakhs, a boon to critically ill children
SI Investments & Broking Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, and the Rotary Club of Madras donated an advanced life support Ambulance to Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital (KKCTH) on 27th January 2026.
Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital is a premier child health facility in the country, operational since 1979. The highlight of this hospital is providing world-class healthcare at an affordable cost to underprivileged children. This hospital offers a comprehensive array of facilities, from simple OPD-based treatments to complex heart, brain, and abdominal surgeries, dialysis, and ECMO.
Seriously ill children from outlying areas need to be transported in specially designed ambulances, equipped with advanced life support equipment and accompanied by a trained team of doctors and nurses, said Dr. Bala Ramachandran, Head of the Dept of Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Stabilizing them at the point of origin and providing the required intensive care enroute greatly improves the chances of survival. The Hospital routinely transports children from as far as Bengaluru, Trichy, Madurai, Tirupathi, Nellore, and Vijayawada.
This purpose-built ambulance will improve our ability to safely transport critically ill newborn babies and children across long distances. It will be equipped with medical equipment, including a patient monitor, infusion pumps, a ventilator, and an ultrasound machine. It has two large Oxygen cylinders to ensure an uninterrupted oxygen supply. The most important factor is the availability of a team of doctors and nurses who are specially trained in the long-distance transport of seriously ill children. The ambulance will function as a Mobile ICU, allowing us to provide the same care on the road as is available in the ICU.
Dr. Ramachandran thanked Mr. Siddharth Iyer, CEO & MD of SI Investments & Broking, Pvt. Ltd., and the Rotary Club of Madras for their generosity. He explained that the Hospital treats more than 10,000 inpatients every year, including about 1400 in the ICU. We provide ethical care without a profit motive, he said. Our goal is to ensure that high-quality medical care is available to every child, irrespective of whether they are rich or poor.
