VIJAYAWADA: In a major push to strengthen emergency medical response and minimise preventable fatalities during road and other accidents, the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) has introduced two pivotal initiatives across all government hospitals in the state: the Pre-Hospital Notification (PHN) system and the State Trauma Registry.
Details regarding the rollout were jointly announced on Friday by Additional DME Dr Satyanarayana Murthy and State Nodal Officer for Trauma and Burns Dr Sumita Shankar.
Recognising that the first hour following an any sort of road accident—known as the “Golden Hour”—is too critical for saving lives of the victims, the PHN system is designed to eliminate precious time wasted upon arrival at a hospital. Under this new protocol, 108 ambulance personnel will transmit advance alerts to the destination hospital while transporting an injured patient.
This ensures that emergency medical teams, blood units, diagnostic facilities (such as X-ray and CT scan), and surgical suites are pre-positioned and fully prepared the moment the patient arrives, enabling immediate life-saving interventions.
Aligned with Supreme Court (SC) directives and Central government guidelines, the newly launched State Trauma Registry will digitally record comprehensive data for every accident victim treated across government medical institutions.
This database will enable authorities to identify high-risk accident black spots across Andhra Pradesh, allowing the government to deploy targeted road safety measures and bolster emergency medical infrastructure in vulnerable regions.
To ensure seamless execution, the DME office has initiated a specialised 45-minute foundational training program for 108 Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and triage nurses.
Furthermore, every government hospital will designate a triage nurse and a coordination nurse to operate under the direct supervision of the hospital’s nodal officer, with advanced training sessions scheduled for the near future.
The authorities of DME have urged the citizens across the State to call 108 ambulance immediately in the event of a road accident and to stay beside the victim to offer reassurance until the emergency responders arrive.
