As part of EMCON 2016, the 18th annual conference of Society of Emergency Medicine in India happening in Madurai, rescue of patients using air ambulance was demonstrated at Velammal Medical College Hospital and Research Institute (VMCHRI) for doctors and paramedics attending the conference on Thursday.
The demonstration done by ICATT, reportedly the only agency operating air ambulance in India, was the first such programme organised in Tamil Nadu, said Padma Prakash Gandhiraj, organising secretary of the conference.
The team, led by Neal Durge, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Pre-hospital Care at Royal London Hospital in the United Kingdom, demonstrated the scenario in which a road accident victim had to be shifted using an air ambulance. Paramedics, who landed from the air ambulance helicopter, explained and demonstrated all the procedures to be followed to ensure the patient’s safety.
Highlighting the importance of the training, Dr. Gandhiraj said that shifting a patient using air ambulance required expertise and training as several external factors should be taken care of at high altitude.
“Air ambulances are yet to become popular in India and consequently not many people are trained,” he said.
V. Jude Vinoth, Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Apollo Speciality Hospitals, said that air ambulances would help a great deal in shifting organs for transplants and also in rescuing people during natural or man-made disasters.
M.V. Muthuramalingam, Chairman of VMCHRI, was present during the demonstration apart from senior doctors from the four hospitals — Apollo Speciality Hospitals, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, VMCHRI and Vadamalayan Hospitals — which are jointly organising the conference.
“Air ambulances will help a great deal in shifting organs for transplants and also in rescuing people during disasters”
