Despite mass awareness campaigns and enforcement drives the graph on road traffic accidents stubbornly refuses to come down, going by the statistics of accident victims treated at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
A comparison with last year’s data revealed that the number of accident cases treated at CMCH had gone up in all but one of the first five months this year.
Hospital Dean S. Revwathy told The Hindu on Tuesday that over-speeding by youngsters, many of whom also did not wear helmets, was the prime reason. Also, many of them had a flagrant disregard for traffic rules. Addressing these factors alone will bring down the number of accidents and related fatalities considerably.
The CMCH’s Neurology Department Head R. Raju said that they performed around 30 surgeries for accident victims every month.
“A majority of the accident victims treated at CMCH trauma ward were riding two wheelers and in the age group of 18 to 35. Most of them did not wear helmets and many were driving under the influence of alcohol, which affects their chances of responding positively to treatment,” he said.
A majority of the road traffic accidents result in brain injuries. Even if the patient survived, a bulk of them suffered permanent damage as the brain, compared to other organs, was more susceptible to injury since it’s made of soft tissue.
Accident victims often suffered from long-term disability such as loss of mental functions and psychiatric manifestations. Further, multiple injuries such as bone fracture, skull fracture, cerebral edema (swelling in the brain), injuries to the limbs, chest, liver and abdomen were also common among accident victims. Most victims belong to the productive age group but become a burden to their family and society.
Dr. Raju called for stepping up health education in schools and colleges and sensitising them to the dangers of over-speeding and disregarding traffic rules.
The CMCH’s Neurosurgery Department, which was established in 1979, treats patients from the six districts of the Nilgiris, Tirupur, Erode, Karur and Coimbatore besides Palakkad in Kerala. It functions round the clock and has three operation theatres.
