Edhi - World’s Largest Private Ambulance Service - Set to Expand

The Karachi-based Edhi Foundation ambulance service, already the largest private ambulance service in the world, looks set to expand further in Pakistan with the purchase of another 150 vehicles this year. "There are very few government ambulances in Pakistan, "Anwer Kazmi, secretary to the foundation's head, Abdul Sattar Edhi, told IRIN in the port city of Karachi. "People depend on the ambulances of Edhi." Phones ringing off the hook at the service's main call centre located on a crowded back street of the former capital are nothing more than routine, where a team of 30 staff members work back-to-back 12-hour shifts, 24 hours a day.