If accident doesn't kill you, trauma might

One in every six patients suffering from trauma in India dies because of insufficient as well as incompetent paramedical staff.

Delhi's share in the 1,114,590 road accidents in the country was 13.7 per cent in 2007, according to the National Crime Record Bureau.

The Capital is trying to undo that.

The primary trauma care foundation of India held a training programme for doctors in the city late last week.

The programme focussed on providing basic knowledge and skills necessary to identify and treat those traumatised patients who require rapid assessment, resuscitation and stabilisation of their injuries.

Dr Rajendra Prasad, senior neurosurgeon at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, said there was a lack of trained staff who get to handle the patient in the crucial first few hours.

"In our country the first line of defence for a trauma patient are mostly the bystanders. Even if the life of a victim is saved, there are always chances of serious damages," he pointed out.

Besides, the trauma centres often lack required technologies that can help save the life of a patient by saving time on providing primary care.

The time lag in taking the patient to the nearest medical centre is another issue that needs to be addressed on a priority basis, the senior neurosurgeon said.

Also, the ill-equipped ambulance services are a major handicap.

According to Dr Prem Sagar, Head of department, Neurology, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, "The paramedical staff in India seriously lacks training in theu00a0 proper primary trauma care." The foundation further intends to extend the training to policemen and commoners.

Maintenance of data or statistics with respect to the number of emergency cases admitted to the government and private hospitals and trauma centres is another related issue. Most of the trauma centres in Delhi lack technology to maintain data on the number of cases.

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