Doctors who treated 26/11 victims urge state to include trauma training in medical schools.
A group of doctors have formed a forum to train medical staff to provide aid during emergencies like the 26/11 terror attack. These doctors who treated victims of the Pakistani terrorists have urged the state government to include a course on trauma management in graduate medical courses.
The idea of forming a forum took roots when it dawned on the group that the doctors who put in all efforts to help out the victims of those terrible days were not trained to deal with such situations. Most of the injured people were rushed to the hospitals with polytrauma, a condition caused by multiple injuries inflicted by assault weapons.
The forum will create a medical disaster management cell that will help government agencies to deal with emergencies. Called the Terror Forum, it will train doctors from across the state, said Dr MM Begani, consulting surgeon with Bombay Hospital who successfully operated on 26 people injured during the terror attack.
Begani and his group hope to train doctors and other medical staff using some first-hand experience they had two years ago. Doctors said firearms can cause injuries to multiple organs and lead to severe blood loss and charring of tissues. Also, such cases require the services of doctors with varied specialties like anaesthetises, general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, cardiac and thoracic experts.
“This was the first time doctors treated injuries from hand grenades and assault weapons like AK-56 and AK-47 rifles. Doctors were required to take on-the-spot decisions,” said Begani. Begani first toyed with the idea of forming the forum when he went to Antwerp to attend a meet on ‘Terror Attack Patient Management’, organised by the University of Ziekenhuis. The meet was held in the backdrop of the terror attacks across the world.
“Terror attacks are now international phenomena and doctors everywhere want to be updated on how they could save lives of the victims of such attacks. The Antwerp meeting was a learning experience for us as well since we had rarely handled so many patients with such injuries,” said Begani who has suggested that the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) should
add a trauma management course in the MBBS level curriculum.
According to sources, doctors from the JJ Group of Hospitals, Bombay, Sion, KEM and Nair hospitals, apart from some private hospitals will be included in the training group.
Apart from doctors, paramedical staff, whose services are crucial in such situations, will also be trained. The process of identifying doctors has already begun. Head of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research Dr WB Tayde said, “A forum like this will help medical students and doctors who do not have first-hand experience of treating such injuries. We will definitely help the group.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}