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22 Yrs On, AIIMS Centre (In Delhi) Starts Dry Run Today

Over 22 years after it was conceived, India’s first full-fledged trauma centre to treat patients of road accidents is now ready.

All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ much-awaited Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC) is spread over 20,600 sq metres. While the dry run will begin on Monday by shifting 55 ‘‘not so critical patients’’ from AIIMS to JPNATC, fresh admissions will start from mid-December. The centre will be fully functional by March, 2007.

First conceived in 1984, this Rs 132-crore seven-storey hospital has four operation theatres, 200 beds, including 16 ICU beds, and two casualty OTs that will provide both pre-hospital and emergency care. In the next 6 months, six more operation theatres will be added. The centre will also act as a referral hospital, where patients sent by zonal public hospitals and satellite trauma centres will be observed and treated.

Over 957 fresh staff, including doctors, resident doctors, nurses and technical staff, have already been recruited to man JPNATC. All of them, from specialties like neurosurgery, orthopaedics, cardio-thoracic and vascular
surgery, general surgery and plastic surgery, have been undergoing orientation training in AIIMS for the past 6 months.

A helipad has also been created on top of the building for transporting critical patients. AIIMS officials are also in discussion with Centralised Accident and Trauma Services to ply 300 additional ambulances within Delhi. Officials envisage posting one ambulance initially every 10 km. In a year, one ambulance will be posted every 5 km.

The centre will be a boon for India, where road accidents have taken epidemic proportions. In India, a death caused by road accidents is reported every two minutes. Nearly 1.2 million die in road accidents worldwide. Over 50 million people are injured or disabled in such accidents. Road traffic crashes cost countries upto 4% of their GDP.

A health ministry official said India accounts for 10% of road accident fatalities in the world because there are more vehicles on the road and no pre-hospital trauma care system in place. A proper trauma care is most crucial when every minute impacts the patient’s chances of survival.

Dr Shakti Gupta, expert in hospital administration from AIIMS, told TOI: ‘‘State-of-the art comprehensive trauma care services will be provided by JPNATC to acutely injured patients and it will have full range of spets available 24 hours a day.’’

Gupta added: ‘‘At least 40% deaths occur on the roadside due to delay in treatment. Earlier, trauma cases were handled by the casualty ward. Now, a separate hospital dedicated to it would definitely enhance treatment. The centre will network among the hospitals of MCD, NDMC, Railways, armed forces and Delhi government.’’

MISHAPS OUTPACE HEALTHCARE

• Accelerated urbanisation is the main cause of alarming increase in the rate of accidental injuries in India
• Increase in the number of vehicles has outpaced the development of adequate roads and highways
• India has 1% of the motor vehicles in the world, but bears the burden of 10% of the global vehicular accidents
• High mortality rate amongst those with multisystem injuries was found due to primitive state of trauma-care systems, lack of prehospital care and inadequate critical care
• Mortality in serious injuries is six times worse in a developing country such as India compared to a developed country
• Only 4% of the ambulance personnel were found to have certified formal training
• One-third of ambulances serve only as transport vehicles with no paramedic staff. Only 28% of the ambulances had two or more paramedics
• Only 50% of ambulance services reported skills and resources for providing airway support and appropriate splintage.
• In 30% of the hospitals, the casualty medical officers are the only physicians available to provide resuscitation
• Road accidents are expected to become the third largest killer in the world by 2020
• At present, trauma management in India is dismal and the entire system is haphazard
• Deaths from injuries are projected to rise from 5.1 million in 1990 to 8.4 million in 2020
• Road traffic injuries in developing countries affect the reproductive (working) age group (15-44 years) and children
• In India and China, road accident deaths are likely to increase by 147% and 92% respectively by 2020

Trauma deaths in India

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com (Delhi Edition)
Date Of Publish: 27-Nov-06

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