Pune airport at Lohegaon gets 24X7 medical emergency facility

Pune: It took two lives in two months before the Pune International airport at Lohegaon could get its 24X7 emergency medical facility in place for passengers. On an average, the airport handles 9,000 passengers daily.
KP Padmanabham, a Spicejet technician in his forties, lost his life on April 4 after he fell unconscious and in the following month Laxman Thirpaa Natekar, 29, a book vendor, died of a cardiac arrest.
On Friday, joint commission international and College of American Pathologists, USA, Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital in association with Airport Authority of India has launched a medical room at the Pune airport terminal.
The new facility will provide free medical services to all the passengers. There will be a trained doctor and a nurse will be available 24x7 at the medical room at Pune airport. They will cater to all the basic and primary health care need of the passengers by providing free consultation, medication, first aid for any minor injuries.
COO of Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, Rekha Dubey, said, “Beside providing free medical aid, Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital will also organise periodical awareness sessions for passengers to have safe air travel. We will also be educating and training the airport staff about the Basic Life support to handle any medical emergency at the airport.”
Dhairyashil Vandekar, chairman of Pune Airline Operators Committee (PAOC), said, “We are happy that the persistent followup by PAOC with AAI for providing emergency medical service at Pune airport have finally grown fruit while no airlines are invited for the opening of clinical at the airport we still welcome as it is in the interest of the passengers.”