Public-private partnership to help unidentified accident victims

March 13, 2011 02:42 am | Updated 02:42 am IST - CHENNAI:

The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here is engaged in a public-private partnership initiative to assist unidentified accident victims brought to the hospital every day.

According to hospital officials, at least a dozen persons are brought in as ‘unknown' patients either by ambulances or public.

While people may help bring a victim to the hospital, they cannot be asked wait until the patient is identified and his/her family informed. It is to fill the gap and ensure that the ‘unknown' victim gets quality care that the hospital had entered into a partnership with a non-governmental organisation.

P.T. Ali of Accident and Death Care Cell, who has been helping the hospital dispose unclaimed bodies, came forward to supply attendants for such victims. As a first step, six men were posted in the Trauma Care Ward and their work has been much appreciated, an official of the hospital said.

The assistance of volunteers transformed the Trauma Care Ward, he added. “On March 4, fourteen persons were brought to the ward, seven of whom were unidentified. On the next day, the ward got seven persons, including three who were unidentified. These volunteers ensured that the patients were taken for investigations without delay,” the official said.

“We sought four volunteers for the Casualty to tend to patients who are brought in autorickshaws and taxis. Most of the delay is because there is no one to attend to the unidentified patient,” the official said. The volunteers would not be used to shift patients to wards, however. Those brought in ambulances are invariably accompanied by paramedics.

A nurse in-charge of the volunteers posted in the Casualty Ward said, “Currently two volunteers are working eight-hour day shifts and two volunteers work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., since the hospital receives more unknown victims during the night.”

The hospital is also planning to introduce the system in the orthopaedics and medical emergency wards in the next few months.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.