Need to improve med services in rural areas: Exp

AURANGABAD : The knowledge of critical care in medicine should reach peripheral levels to improve quality of medical services in tier-II cities and rural pockets, experts said here on Sunday.
They were talking on the final day of ‘Mahacriticon 2014’, the four-day state-level conference jointly organised by the Aurangabad chapter of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine and MGM Medical College.
Such conferences at in tier-II cities and rural pockets would boost the services, the experts said, adding that often rural patients, especially the critically ill, have to go without treatment.
Shivkumar Iyer, president of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, said: “Lack of awareness about the intensive care unit (ICU) among the public leads to misunderstandings and arguments between patients’ relatives and doctors. To avoid this, it is necessary to spread awareness about the ICU. The doctors who practice in rural areas should upgrade their knowledge about critical care treatment.”
Shirish Prayag, a senior intensivist from Pune and pioneer of critical care in India, said: “Critical care is an emerging branch in medicine. Doctors in this field are trained to treat complicated cases of trauma, heart disease, neurological diseases, sepsis, dengue, malaria, etc.”
Prayag added that if the conference was organised in tier-II cities, it would benefit medical students and paramedical staff from rural pockets and give insights to doctors.
Anand Nikalje, an intensivist and organising chairman of the conference, said: “The conference focused on the theme ‘Bridging the gap between critical care and other specialists’. It also discussed topics, including antibiotic choices, golden hour in trauma, malaria management, tropical fever in ICU, designing a modern ICU and ABCD of stress management,” he said.
“Around 800 delegates participated in the conference, in which critical care specialists Shrish Prayag and Shivkumar Iyer (from Pune), Atish Hegade and Atul Kulkarni (from Mumbai), and three specialists from Australia and New Zealand provided expert guidance,” said conference secretary Sameedh Patel.