One year after the aviation disaster that transformed Ahmedabad Civil Hospital into the centre of a massive emergency response, mid-day spoke with Medical Superintendent Dr Rakesh Joshi and forensic head Dr Dharmesh Patel about the challenges they faced and the lessons they learned.
 
How do you remember the day of the crash?
I was in the middle of a long surgery when my security officer called around 1.40 pm. At first, he said there was a fire near the staff quarters. Seconds later, he called again and said it was a plane crash. I had never heard those words in my professional life before.

Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Pics/By Special Arrangement

What was your immediate response?
My first thought was that a large number of injured people, including children, would arrive at the hospital any moment, and we must be ready. I contacted our professors and trauma teams and told everyone who was available and could make it to the hospital to report to the trauma centre. Within minutes, we began preparing for mass casualty management.

How did the hospital organise itself?
We created triage teams right away. Patients were assessed based on urgency — who needed ICU care, who required immediate intervention, and who could wait briefly. We also anticipated that children and local residents from the crash site could be among the injured, so paediatric and emergency teams were alerted too.