While this means not many people are getting injured, waste of working hours of medical personnel has been disturbing
The 10 Emergency Medical Rooms (EMR) that Western Railway started between February 2 and February 26 have received an extremely tepid response — which, of course, is good in one way, because it also means that not many people are getting injured at these 10 stations where the EMRs are situated. However, the waste of working hours of medical personnel is a disturbing feature of WR's 'railway accident victims only' rule.
Statistics available with dna show that since the opening of the 10 EMRs, a total of 142 people have been treated at these EMRs, of which 117 passengers had simple injuries which just required first-aid.
Only 25 people came in with grievous injuries that required some of them to be sent to better-equipped hospitals nearby. A total of 15 people were brought to the EMRs dead, records show.
Figures with dna show that Churchgate EMR has treated only 4 people since it opened on February 16, or about 1 person every 11 days. Mumbai Central EMR has treated 7 people in about 60 days, or roughly 1 person every 9 days.
The three EMRs which have got at least some kind of work are the ones at Bandra, Andheri and Borivli. The Bandra EMR has treated 24 persons, which comes to about 1 person every two days. Andheri EMR has treated 20 persons in about 35 days, the record show. The Borivli EMR has treated 32 people in 45 days, or around 1 patient every one and a half days.
According to documents pertaining to the EMR scheme on WR, the railways will spend Rs6.2 crore for a period of two years for these 10 EMRs, which comes to Rs31 lakh per month per EMR, which in turn comes to Rs1 lakh per day. Each EMR, as per WR guidelines, needs to have one Medical Council of India-recognised MBBS doctor, one nurse and one 10th pass helper. The medical teams have to be at the EMR round-the-clock in 8-hour shifts, as per rules laid down by WR for the firms running these EMRs.
"While the low numbers is a relief because it means less people are getting injured, it also is a worrying waste of man-hours of medical personnel who as per rules laid down by WR cannot treat bonafide passengers for normal ailments but only victims of railway accidents unlike Central Railway," said an official. CR's tender specifications for the EMR is that 'while medical practitioners are available and not attending to the injured passengers, they could extend consultancy to bonafide train commuters on payment who may like to consult them during waiting time at the station Since the equipment at the EMR will include automatic ECG machines, blood pressure instruments and the like, commuters can get themselves checked for a fee while waiting for a train for a fee, said officials.
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