TV screen helps identify victims

MUMBAI: A centralised information centre at Sion Hospital has helped several families identify blast victims.

 

Sahayta, a centralised information and coordination system to identify all patients on a TV monitor, has worked wonders at the Emergency Medical Services centre in Sion Hospital. The data system was installed with donor support on June 14. The hospital took digital pictures of the blast victims — 41 dead and 68 injured — fed it into a computer and hooked it to a TV screen for better display.

 

On Tuesday evening after the blasts, people who were hesitant to enter the morgue to look at the bodies, peered into the TV screen to identify their loved ones. One body was identified on the basis of the image of a mole on his chest, another was identified on the basis of his teeth. Officials say though seven bodies were disfigured, six could be identified with the help of this system that zooms in on facial and body features. Only one is left to be identified.

 

Patients’ families, however, say the facility could have been put to greater use if there had been proper dissemination of information. Many people kept searching for their relatives or family members in the wards and morgues as they did not know of the system.

 

“On July 12 and 13, there was a heavy flow of people to check if their relatives were killed or injured in the blasts,’’ said dean ME Yeolekar. Presently, 11 blast victims are being treated at the hospital. The centre also telecast pictures of victims in Bhabha Hospital. “Our people took pictures of the patients at Bhabha hospital and showed them here,’’ said Yeolekar.