In a bid to better the preparedness levels and response to disasters in hospitals, the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Madurai Health Unit, began a two-day workshop on ‘Strengthening emergency response system in hospitals’ here on Wednesday.
Representatives from government hospitals and primary health care centres in the district will participate in the workshop, organised in collaboration with the revenue administration and State Disaster Management Authority.
Inaugurating the conference, Collector L. Subramanian stressed the importance of various departments acting in a coordinated manner to mitigate the effects of the disasters. Taking the example of the recent flash floods at Sathuragiri which claimed eight lives, Mr. Subramanian said that they had been able to keep the number of casualties less due to speedy response and planning.
“Events like these are unpredictable and as a result, we have now restricted access to the hills and the temple except on full moon, new moon and other auspicious days,” he explained.
Stating that availability of manpower and drugs from the health department was very important, Mr. Subramanian asked the hospitals to have response teams ready who could be sent in the event of injuries and casualties.
“Details of the health inspector and Village Health Nurse (VHN) for specific areas as well as blood banks and the availability of blood there, should be made available to every hospital for access during an emergency,” he added.
Revwathy Kailairajan, Dean of Government Rajaji Hospital, said that the response teams from hospitals in Madurai had been constantly assisting other places like Sivakasi whenever fire accidents occurred and also offered a helping hand during the dengue outbreak in Rajapalayam.
The doctors and other healthcare representatives will attend sessions on the impacts of manmade and natural disasters, mass casualty management, first aid and transport, emergency resuscitation and stabilisation and hospital safety.
