"DIAL 1298 FOR AMBULANCE" was launched in Kerala on 31st December, 2007 covering Ernakulam and Thrissur districts with 5 ALS Ambulances. In the first phase, the 1298 Ambulance service was available in Ernakulam and Thrissur districts with five advanced life support / ICU ambulances and 52 basic life support ambulances as part of the 1298 network.

The service area was expanded to cover two more districts Alleppey and Kottayam in June 2008 with an additional fleet of 5 ALS and 10 BLS Ambulances thus making a total of 10 ALS and 10 BLS Ambulances in Kerala. ‘Dial 1298 for Ambulance’ will be expanding the service to Pathanamthitta, Kollam (Quilon) & Thiruvananthapuram districts by the end of October & will be looking to cover the whole of Kerala state by the end of 2008.

In Kerala, Ambulance Access for All (AAA) is bringing in a set of model advanced/basic life support ambulances and is building on the existing ambulance infrastructure by including the existing ambulance service providers under the 1298 network. For the existing ambulance service providers, AAA has provided basic life support training for the staff on the ambulance. Going forward AAA will also support and guide the existing service providers in upgrading their basic ambulance to world standards.

In Kerala the project is supported by: the Confederation of Indian Industry, Eastern, GTN Group, Mather, Federal Bank, Kalliyath Group, London Ambulance Service, Life Supporters Institute of Health Science, Lifeline Foundation, Society for Emergency Medicine in India, Apollo Tyres Ltd, Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, BSNL & Reliance.