This story is from October 29, 2004

SOS but who's listening?

Four hours: The average time taken for patients to reach hospitals in India. Emergency Medical Services is a major area for concern in Mumbai.
SOS but who's listening?
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But this has been limited to seminars, rather than implementation.          #   #     $ $   2 VçÂŽ ï 2 †ÂŽ ï†2 ¶RÂŽThis critical aspect of medical care continues to be on the backburner in Mumbai,       #           #$ 2 ¶â ÂŽwhere the   42 æÂŽincidence of trauma and non    $   2 æÂŽ-ïn2 æBÂŽtrauma cases continues to be high. There are plenty of such cases $                —2 ]ÂŽreported in Mumbai where patients suffer because of lack of Emergency Medical Services (EMS).    #$           $ #     " 2 ÂŽ ï 2 EÂŽ ïa2 u9ÂŽ"There is a need to implement EMS services for accidents o     $ $ #        G2 u8(ÂŽor trauma, which result not only in the  $         ¡2 Â¥dÂŽloss of valuable lives but also of the productive work force," admits Dr Khusrav Bajan, consultant,                  #        Â’2 ÕZÂŽemergency, critical care and internal medicine, Hinduja Hospital. "A proper EMS system is $       $          #  #  22 ÂŽrequired for medical and s   #   &2 âÂŽurgical purposes."    2 -ÂŽ ï 2 5ÂŽ ï‘2 eYÂŽThe requirement of EMS service includes well equipped ambulances with trained paramedics   $  #         $      $  ˜2 •^ÂŽwho can allocate aid on the basis of need and evacuate the victims to proper referral medical                    $     $  2 Ã…ÂŽcentres.  2 Ã…”ÂŽ ï 2 õÂŽ ïL2 %+ÂŽHowever, in Mumbai, the lack of referral ceÉ  #$      ^2 %7ÂŽntres has resulted in tertiary care centres taking the               q2 UDÂŽpressure with the existing EMS facilities as good as non functional.       #         2 UÃ�ÂŽ ï 2 „ÂŽ ï-NANIì¥Ã�5@ ð¿ÊbjbjÃ�2Ã�2 D­X­XÊ ÿÿÿÿÿÿˆ:::::::$šbbbb n š_ ¶†††††aaaÞ à à à à à à $ RgF :0 aa0 0  ::††Û º º º 0 v:†:†Þ º 0 Þ º º º ::º †z `Ã¥ÑÓ½Äb¦ º Þ / 0_ º ­° ­º ^$‚::::­:º $ac¸º ”¯Â�aaa  ššä~ä° šš~Emergency Medical Services have emerged as a favourite discussion point for the medical fraternity today. But this has been limited to seminars, rather than implementation. This critical aspect of medical care continues to be on the backburner in Mumbai, where the incidence of trauma and non-trauma cases continues to be high. There are plenty of such cases reported in Mumbai where patients suffer because of lack of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). "There is a need to implement EMS services for accidents or trauma, which result not only in the loss of valuable lives but also of the productive work force," admits Dr Khusrav Bajan, consultant, emergency, critical care and internal medicine, Hinduja Hospital. "A proper EMS system is required for medical and surgical purposes." The requirement of EMS service includes well equipped ambulances with trained paramedics who can allocate aid on the basis of need and evacuate the victims to proper referral medical centres. However, in Mumbai, the lack of referral centres has resulted in tertiary care centres taking the pressure with the existing EMS facilities as good as non functional. With the Medical Council of India not recognising emergency medicine as a specialised stream, knowledge about it is extremely limited even among doctors. Besides, with hospitals (both public and private) in India not having the required set-up, it does not provide the necessary impetus for doctors to take up EMS. "Primary care physicians need to be motivated to learn emergency care medicine," says Dr Deepak Jumani, family physician. The need of the hour is synchronisation between the government and private hospitals. "Without government involvement, it is simply not possible since there has to be standardisation of facilities," says Dr Bajan, who is likely to raise the issues at the forthcoming EMCON, the sixth annual conference of Society of Emergency Medicine India (SEMI). The reason holds true given that in the US, EMS has been successful as it is run by the state. Clearly, EMS services have a long way to go. "In the US, the average time taken for a patient to reach a hospital from the site of accident is 45 minutes; in India it is 4 hours. We should not take this lightly," says Dr Alok Sharma, HoD, neurosurgery, Lokmanya Tilak General Hospital. Incidentally, the Mumbai fire department has started an EMS service whereby they are training firemen and officers to treat people for trauma, cardiovascular problems and childbirth. ÉÊüøhèeÜhÃŽj‰­®Æ Ç   Ô Õ | } ~    56ÂŒÂ�óôÊúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúúúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSúê$PSgdÃŽj‰Êý 1Â�h°Ã�/ °à=!°"°#Â� $Â� %° 1Â�h°Ã�/ °à=!°"°#Â� $Â� %°þÿà…ŸòùOh«‘+''³Ù0dÂ�˜¤°ÀÃŒØè ø  , 8DLT\ässrajeshkajeajeNormalrajeshk1jeMicrosoft Word 10.0@ΠG@Ã�jÓ½Ä@Ã�jÓ½ÄvTþÿÕÃ�՜.“—+,ù®0ô hpˆÂ�˜  ¨°¸À È Õä timesonlineeÃ… A  Title
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