NEW DELHI: Nuclear, chemical, biological, and radiation, all major city hospitals have been asked to be prepared for all emergencies that may occur during the G20 summit.
The Union government has asked AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung Hospital and to specifically prepare for atomic, biological, and chemical attacks and radiation emergencies.
“All hospitals have been asked to scale up their infrastructure given that the city will be a focus of an international event. Besides, separate hospitals have been assigned as nodal centers to deal with certain contingencies,” a government official said.
“The leaders and government officials of 20 nations will be present at the international summit. Besides, thousands of high-profile foreign delegates will also be staying in the city for the event. This event, where such a huge number of top leaders are gathering in one place, makes it a soft target for terror activities. So we have to prepare for any small to large scale eventualities,” he added.
While AIIMS gears up for health emergencies due to nuclear attacks, RML will be the nodal center to manage victims of biological attacks. Safdarjung Hospital will deal will chemical-related emergencies and Army Hospital will treat radiation-related trauma.
All the hospitals have been directed to keep stock of blood from all groups in their blood banks, the official quoted above added. Officials said that the Emergency Medical Relief (EMR) unit of the Union Health Ministry is taking care of all the arrangements including setting up nodal centers and infrastructure development.
Dr Sanjeev Lalwani, Medical Superintendent, AIIMS told this newspaper that the training of the healthcare workers has been started. “The preparations will be done in phases and as per the directions from the ministry. It includes dedicated beds, ICUs, ventilators, and operation theatres. For now, we have begun the training of our workforce.”