Sassoon aims to fill in trauma expert blanks

Hospital hopes to be only 3rd in country to offer emergency medicine course, fill vacuum in field

On February 13, as victims of the German Bakery blast lay writhing in pain in hospital, super-specialists like cardiologists and intensivists were attending to them instead of an emergency medicine specialist.

The stark reality is that hospitals in the city simply do not have trained doctors who specialise in trauma medicine, a subject taught only in two medical colleges in the country.

Outside help sought
Taking note of this serious situation, senior officials of Sassoon General Hospital have now sought the help of experts from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Atlanta, and All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) inu00a0 Delhi to start a course in emergency medicine.

Dean Dr Arun Jamkar said the proposal to start the course will be sent to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences and the Medical Council of India (MCI).

"While reviewing the management of patients during the recent disaster with world experts, we realised the need for doctors trained in trauma medicine," said Jamkar. "However, until recently, it wasn't possible to do so since this course wasn't listed by the MCI. Now it has started in two colleges in India and we plan to be the third."

Jamkar said the emergency medicine unit of AIIMS has promised to help the B J Medical College, which is attached to Sassoon, draw up a course in emergency medicine.

Faculty programme
"The CDC has also proposed a faculty development programme in the form of short-term courses where we could send our senior doctors for training for a few months and who would in turn return and share the knowledge and help chart our course for teaching students," said Jamkar.

He added that it might take up to a year before the course is formally offered at the medical college.
Welcoming the move, Dr Prasad Rajhans, pioneer of emergency medical services in the city, said this would be a one-of-its-kind course in the city.

"The difference between a trauma expert and a specialist is that while the latter can handle one type of emergency well, the former can stabilise a patient who comes in any type of emergency till an expert takes over," said Dr Rajhans. "For example, in a bomb blast, a cardiologist can not treat a burns patients but a trauma expert can stabilise him until a burns specialist arrives. Pune has no such trauma experts, as seen during the German Bakery blast, and that's why it's extremely urgent to start this course."