Policemen and policewomen will be trained in pre-hospital trauma care to give road accident victims a better chance of survival.
The programme, Seamless Medical Intervention for Life Care and Emergency, aims at training law enforcers in transporting accident victims to hospital safely, administering first aid, resuscitating them if necessary, monitoring their vitals, and keeping them stable till admission.
The training programme will chiefly target policemen deployed on mobile patrol vehicles and also those posted at station houses abutting major State and National Highways in Kerala.
The policemen will be taught the use of gurneys and sophisticated medical equipment for transporting, reviving, and stabilising accident victims.
According to the State police, as many as 4,258 persons were killed and 25,281 seriously injured in 3,525 road accidents in 2013.
The quality of the life support and trauma care an accident victim received in the first one hour largely determined his survival prospects. Professional pre-hospital trauma care at the accident spot could make the difference between life and death.
According to the police, a significant number of accident deaths in Kerala could have been prevented had the patient received professional trauma care in time. State Police Chief K.S. Balasubramanian has devised the scheme.
Chandy to inaugurateChief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the programme at the Police Training College, Thycaud, on July 7. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala will preside.
ADGPs M.N. Krishnamoorthy and R. Srilekha and Health Secretary D. Elankovan, Director of Medical Education V. Geeta, Director of Health Services P.K. Jameela, and City Police Commissioner H. Venkatesh will be present.
