Following a Madras High Court directive, an emergency medical centre (EMC) is being set up at the Chennai Central Railway Station, one of the busiest railway stations in the country, to cater to 3.5 lakh passengers passing through the station everyday.
The EMC is being launched by SRM Institute for Medical Sciences, Vadapalani, in collaboration with the Southern Railway at Concourse Hall. The HC had in December last year asked the railway authorities to set up a medical centre within a month after a PIL highlighted the lack of the facility.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, K Ravi Kumar, Director-Operation, SRM Institute for Medical Sciences, and Dr Siddarth Ghosh, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Neuro Sciences Department at the Institute, said that the free EMC was being set up as part of the institute’s corporate social responsibility scheme. “We are investing `60 lakh to `70 lakh for the scheme,” said Kumar.
Chennai Central, which has 15 platforms to handle about 200 long-distance trains daily and three platforms for suburban trains, gets on an average two emergency cases a day, said Chennai Central Station Manager S Govindasamy.
“This emergency support system will make a vital difference,” he said. Kumar said there was a need for more such centres at other railway stations as well.
The centre would have a six-bed day care centre with nursing stations providing cardiac, orthopaedic and neurological services according to the needs of the patients. The EMC was also being provided with a 24/7 ambulance service and would also have a nursing station, and space for treatment, examination, dressing and exclusivity for patients. The management said the centre would also offer enough privacy for women patients.
Complete infrastructure and high-end equipment such as electro cardiogram, defibrillator, resuscitation facilities, nebuliser and essential medicines to stabilise the patients before moving them to hospital would be made available at the centre.
Although there was a lack of pharmacy outlets at the station, Kumar said all life saving medicines and routine drugs would be adequately stocked at the Centre to meet emergencies and general requirements. He said the Centre would be serviced by two doctors with one as a standby, four nurses, and would have the backup support from doctors from SRM Institutes for Medical Sciences. “We will also engage two housekeeping staff for day to day cleaning and maintenance,” Kumar added.