HYDERABAD: In a significant decision, the State government on Friday decided to set up 55 emergency and trauma care centres across the State under new policy - Telangana Emergency Response Initiative (TERI).TERI aims to provide immediate medical care to victims of accidents and emergencies to prevent loss of life. Finance and Health Minister Harish Rao, recently reviewed the report prepared by the State Medical Officers, who adopted the Tamil Nadu policy for the State’s requirements.
Accordingly, the government has decided to establish 55 emergency and trauma care centres across the State. The TERI will provide emergency medical services for trauma, heart attack, brain stroke, maternal and child emergencies apart from medical and surgical emergencies.
The lack of coordination between pre-hospital, emergency services, rehabilitation, surgery, specialists, and investigation facilities has been identified as the cause of high mortality rates, and the government aims to prevent this through timely response, according to a release from the Health department said.
The release said that trauma and road accidents account for 24% of cases that come to the emergency department. Around 35% of pre-hospital deaths and 40% of trauma deaths occur within 24 hours of hospital admission due to bleeding. Studies have shown that timely response can prevent 30% to 40% of hospital deaths.
The proposed trauma care centres will come up at NIMS Super Speciality Hospital, 17 teaching hospitals, 21 district hospitals, and 16 area hospitals. The centres will be connected to main roads in all districts. The services provided through these TERI care centres will be divided into pre-hospital and intra-hospital services.
As part of pre-hospitalisation, 426 ambulances equipped with the latest technology will reach the accident sites quickly. Trained paramedics provide emergency services, medical equipment, CPR, and AEDs (automated external defibrillation). The remaining 133 vehicles will soon be equipped with AEDs. Once the victim is taken into the ambulance, the emergency medical technician immediately uploads their health condition online and upon reaching the nearest hospital, the emergency department doctors are ready to provide necessary treatment.
The new changes in hospitals where TERI care is established include special OP services, installation of signboards, and converting casualty departments into emergency departments.A dedicated triage will be set up in the emergency department with four clinical management zones, divided by red, yellow, green, and black codes.
Speciality doctors of all seven departments including nursing and paramedical staff will be present at each trauma care centre. The centres will have necessary advanced medical equipment, including autoclave machine, mobile X-Ray, E-FAST, Suction Operators, Defibrillators, Sea Arm, Ultrasonography, Ultra Sound, CT Scan, Ventilators, and OT Equipment.
Announcing the launch of TERI, Health Minister T Harish Rao said that the government was committed to providing healthcare to everyone in the State. TERI was a part of this commitment and aimed at to prevent precious lives from being lost due to a lack of timely medical treatment, he said.