On April 10 this year, Chiranjeevi Raju and his 10-year-old son Sagar Varma died in a road accident at Vedullapalem Junction in Nakkapalli mandal in Visakhapatnam district.
While the 10-year-old died on the spot, Chiranjeevi Raju, an employee of a private pharmaceutical company, died on way when he was being moved to the Trauma Care Centre (TCC) at King George Hospital in Visakhapatam city. Nine other people travelling in a car also died on the spot in the same accident and it was said to be one of the most gruesome road accidents in the decade in the district.
Keeping aside various factors such as rash driving, condition of the vehicles and faulty road engineering that led to the accident, one aspect has been a learning experience both for the local administration and the police and that was the need for more trauma care centres along the National Highways.
A senior police officer from Yellamanchili circle said Chiranjeevi Raju would have survived had he received medical attention a bit early.
This aspect was highlighted by Director General of Police (DGP) J.V. Ramudu in a presentation to the Chief Minister and he pressed for more TCCs along the NH.
The total road network of Andhra Pradesh is about 1.46 lakh km, with 2,949 km coming under the National Highway, 42,511 km under the State highway and 1.01 lakh km under the district roads.
With the number of vehicles on the roads increasing at a pace of over 15 per cent per year, the accidents also have been on the rise. In 2014, the number of accidents recorded in AP was 23, 512 with 7,862 fatalities. And in 2015, it was 23,178 and 8,114 and in 2016 till April end it was 8,244 and 2,971.
The distance from Vedullapalem junction to the TCC located at the KGH in the city is about 30 km and it takes at least one hour to reach, during non peak hours.
There is no point in having a TCC in the midst of a city and wherein it takes over 30 minutes to reach.
In any major accident case the first 30 minutes is crucial, said a senior doctor from KGH.
The establishment of TCC along the NH is a national project, jointly funded by the State and the Central government. In AP, there are about 17 trauma care centres in 13 districts and all of them are attached to the district hospitals and none is located on the NH.
Trauma Care Centres are equipped to handle critical accident cases.
Among all the 17 TCC, only the one at Visakhapatnam and the one attached to the District Hospital in Srikakulam are rated as Level-‘B’ TCC, and the rest are given ‘C’ ratings. There is no TCC in AP with ‘A’ rating, said a doctor from the TCC in Visakhapatnam.
