THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As the first step towards Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) initiative to create a trauma care network, ambulance operators, drivers and others will join together to evolve a practical solution for trauma care.
A training workshop for the ambulance crew will be held at the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College on Saturday. Ahead of the workshop, the IMA had an initial interactive meeting with the drivers and operators of ambulance services in the district this week.
The association said the response from the drivers was quite encouraging and the inputs were valuable and will help in the practical implementation of the trauma care network. The workshop, being held in association with the Medical College Alumni Association and the police department, is organised as part of the Thiruvananthapuram Accident Rescue Project.
The capital city has been chosen by the IMA to implement the project in its first phase. Medical College principal Thomas Mathew and IG Manoj Abraham will be present at the workshop. It will be handled by experts and doctors in accident and emergency medicine.
The IMA had come up with the initiative after there was widespread criticism over lack of trauma care facility in the state. This comes in the wake of the recent controversy related to the death of Tamil Nadu native Murugan, who allegedly died for want of proper trauma care facility. Once an accident happens, no one knows which hospital the patient should be moved to.
Most of the times, it is the ambulance driver who attends the call in hospitals. It is here where the IMA is trying to set up a proper network. Through the trauma care network, the association is trying to coordinate with the government and private players. As per the plan, a network will be created so that a patient will be taken to the nearest hospital with all facilities from an accident spot.
According to the proposal, the trauma care centres will be categorised and mapped. The ambulance services will also be streamlined. There will be a control centre or a monitoring cell, which would direct ambulance drivers regarding the hospital the patient has to be referred. There is also a proposal for a hotline facility coordinating all hospitals with trauma care facilities.