Giving EMS Its Due Recognition

President of the Society for Emergency Medicine India (SEMI) Dr Prasad Rajhans is synonymous with Emergency Medical Service (EMS) in India. This intensivist, attached to Pune-based Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, is striving to give the much-neglected EMS its due recognition. How? He is pressing for recognition of EMS as a specialty by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and also developing standardised pre-hospital care in association with American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI) and American Association of Emergency Medicine India (AAEMI). However, what he is looking forward to with bated breath is central legislation of EMS. This technical consultant to EMRI project in Hyderabad says, "We want 108 as the official EMS number, a network of ambulances, EMS council for EMS experts and funding for developing EMS." Considering that 140 people die among every 10,000 vehicles plying on the road, of which 30 per cent can be saved if EMS facilities are present, we hope that the government takes a note of the benefits of the legislation.