Maryland University to train doctors in trauma care

In alliance with Maryland University, the state’s health department will be training doctors in trauma care. The doctors will be selected by the department and sent for training to the US-based university.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Health Minister Suresh Shetty said that the doctors are being trained in trauma care keeping in mind the fact the launching of emergency medical services in the state by December.

As part of the emergency services, the health department will put in place 937 ambulances across the state. There will be two kinds of ambulances — life support, and advanced life support. The latter will be equipped with not only the latest technology, but will also have doctors on board.

As of now, the doctors in the state are not trained enough to handles cases of trauma, and the training is being conducted to keep them up to date with the latest developments in trauma care.

According to Shetty, 75,000 accidents take place in a year in Maharashtra and only 60 % of the victims who are brought to hospitals survive.

Once the emergency medical services are  launched in the state, citizens can just dial 108 and seek help. The number will be operated from centralised call centre based in Pune.

Each of the ambulances will be fitted with a GPS system and citizens can call from any part of the state and the centralized call centre will direct the ambulance nearest to the location from where the citizen is seeking help to reach the spot.