BENGALURU: To provide better coverage of the ‘Accident Victims Scheme’, the state health department issued an order to empanel more private hospitals along the accident ‘hotspot zone’ across Karnataka.
Under the ‘Accident Victims Scheme’, empanelled hospitals will provide immediate and instant medical support and treatment to road accident victims ‘free of cost’ during the golden hour and up to 48 hours from the time of the accident, and are then allowed to claim up to Rs 1 lakh per victim for 76 emergency procedures listed by the health department.
“In the first phase, the scheme is being implemented under the ambit of the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka scheme (AB-Ark), where the victims are treated only in empanelled hospitals. But it is necessary to map more hospitals along accident hotspots for timely intervention. Hence, the inclusion of non-empanelled private hospitals is essential to provide better coverage of the scheme.
“Presently, about 16 private medical establishments are yet to be empanelled under the Accident Victim Scheme,” State health commissioner Randeep said, in the order dated May 11. The order also stated that private hospitals are bound to be part of the scheme, according to Section 11 of the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (KPME) Act, 2007. There are 25 accident hotspots in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, Davangere, Belagavi, Kalaburagi, Ballari and Mandya.
Girl treated for rare rickettsial disease after vacay in hills
Bengaluru: A 13-year-old girl who suffered from a rare case of rickettsial disease and e-coli urinary tract infection was treated successfully at a Bengaluru hospital. The girl was admitted at Specialist Hospital following symptoms of high fever, headache, vomiting, and abdominal pain. As per doctors, she was unable to speak properly, was dehydrated and collapsed. After running a comprehensive blood test, they diagonised rickettsial disease and found that she had returned from a vacation in the hills a few days back. The patient started responding to the medication and recovered within 48 hours. Dr Sriram Bonu, Paediatrician, Specialist Hospital said, It is extremely challenging to diagnose rickettsial disease as the symptoms are similar for malaria, dengue, COVID, and flu.