These EMRs will not only cater to victims of accidents on railway premises, but also to commuters who wish to consult a doctor
Following the stampede at Elphinstone Road station in which 23 persons died, Western Railway (WR) has decided to set up Emergency Medical Rooms (EMR) that will also function as clinics and pharmacies at all stations on the 123-km long Churchgate-Dahanu route on the suburban section.
These EMRs will not only cater to victims of accidents on railway premises, but also to commuters who wish to consult a doctor. "Doctors will be allowed to set up a clinic at the railway station. Apart from rail accident victims, the doctors can treat other people and charge nominal fees as prescribed by government hospitals," said Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), Western Railway.
These EMRs shall function on a 24x7 basis, and doctors will be available throughout as in the case of hospitals. Sources in WR said that at present, Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Bandra, Andheri, Goregaon, Kandivli, Borivli, Vasai Road, Virar and Palghar stations have EMRs, but their contracts will lapse soon. Tenders have now been called for setting up EMRs at all stations on WR.
These EMRs will also have their own pharmacy which shall sell medicines. Railway officials said that there would be no space constraint in constructing these EMRs. They added that the decision had been taken after the Elphinstone Road stampede.
The main role of EMRs at railway stations is to provide golden hour treatment to railway accident victims before sending them to bigger tertiary hospitals. Every day on the Mumbai suburban section, at least 9-10 people die on rail premises. The Railways are already working on trespass control measures which include blocking illegal entry and exit points on the rail network, preventing people from crossing tracks by constructing cement concrete walls and putting up barbed wire fences. The Bombay High Court, too, has asked the Indian Railways to take measures to curb accidents and death on tracks.
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