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National
Emergency Network starts operating in Hyderabad
EHM News - Bureau
 Apollo
Hospitals and Morepen Labs Ltd have taken the initiative of
launching a national network of emergency services. Both have
come forward to provide the initiative, infrastructure and
finances required to build the nucleus of the national network.
The process of setting up a national network of emergency
services was launched in New Delhi in January. Hyderabad is
the first city in India to become functional under this programme.
While Apollo has provided infrastructure in the form of emergency
centre and trained personnel to treat the emergency victims,
Morepan has contributed some funds to meet the expenditure
cost, according to sources from Apollo Hospitals.
The national network of emergency services began its operations
with 12 ambulances and eight emergency rooms spread across
Hyderabad. The city has been divided into eight zones, each
with an emergency room and an ambulance. The central control
room receives all calls made on 1066 and directs the nearest
ambulance to reach the emergency victim and shift him or her
to the nearest emergency room where he/she is resuscitated
and stabilised.
The ambulance services are free of cost. This network will
be further extended with the addition of more emergency facilities
with the primary aim of bringing down the response time further.
All hospitals, which are willing to maintain standards and
quality of care, will be added to the network in due course
of time. The national network of emergency services is a comprehensive
emergency system that includes:
1) Easy to remember emergency telephone number: In
all the developed countries and most developing countries,
top priority is accorded to emergency services which are just
a phone call away. In the US, everyone knows what to do in
an emergency .. just call 911 and within minutes an emergency
team arrives at the spot. In Mexico, the number is 08, in
Thailand it is 191, in Philippines 117 and Jamaica 119. These
are countries which are in no way superior to India in terms
of development but are positively superior in terms of emergency
services.
2) Hospital on wheels: Following research and
development, the core team at Apollo Hospitals has designed
an ambulance that suits the Indian conditions and is affordable.
These ambulances are fully equipped and are capable of beginning
emergency care at the site of incident and through the journey
to a hospital. These ambulances are named ‘Hospital on
Wheels’ to distinguish them from traditional transport
ambulances.
3) Standardised emergency rooms: The point of
contact of an emergency victim with a hospital is the emergency
room and the facilities and systems available in these rooms
contribute significantly towards the outcome. Therefore the
equipment, systems and protocols have been standardised for
application across the system.
4) Personnel: None of the Indian universities have
formal training programmes in emergency medicine and uptill
now, there were practically no doctors or para-medical staff
dedicated to emergency services in the country. But now with
Apollo’s initiative, doctors and paramedics are being
provided specialised training in this area.
5) Training: Apollo Hospitals in collaboration
with Royal College of General Practitioners, UK, has initiated
a one year fellowship programme for doctors and two-year certificate
programme for para-medical staff in emergency medicine. These
programs have been running for the last three years and it
now has a team of dedicated doctors and paramedics to man
emergency rooms and ‘Hospital on Wheels’.
6) DOST: Affordability has always been a problem in
India and to make quality emergency care affordable, a unique
accident insurance card ‘DOST’ has been launched.
Paying a small annual premium of Rs 200 an individual can
avail of in-patient services worth Rs 50,000 free of cost
in case he/she meets with an accident and if the accident
results in death, the card provides Rs 50,000 towards life
insurance.
7) Air ambulance services: These services help
in transporting emergency case patients to the site of treatment.
Although air ambulance services are expensive at this point
of time, they should play a major role in the days to come.
8) Life savers programme: Despite the availability
of an emergency team, crucial time is lost when victims are
not brought at the emergency services site on time. Therefore
individuals from the community trained in first-aid would
be extremely useful in providing immediate aid before the
medical services are accessed.
Setting up such a mammoth network across India is a massive
task and is impossible for an organisation to do it single-handedly.
The Apollo Hospital has now invited all the healthcare organisations
in the country to join the National Network of Emergency Services
in this
journey towards excellence in emergency care.
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