Jipmer designated as apex trauma care centre for South India

The institute will introduce MD course in Emergency Medicine

(From right) M.C. Mishra, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi; Mark Fitzgerald, Director, Trauma Services, Alfred Health, Melbourne; Jagdish Prasad, Director General of Health Services, G. Ragesh Chandra, Health Secretary of Puducherry and Peter Cameron, President of International Federation of Emergency Medicine, at the International Summit on Emergency Medicine and Trauma held at Jipmer in Puducherry on Friday. Photo: S.S. Kumar

The Centre has designated the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research as the apex trauma care centre for South India.

The announcement was made by the Director General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Jagdish Prasad at the inaugural session of the International Summit on Emergency Medicine and Trauma Care held here on Friday.

With the announcement, the emergency and trauma facilities at Jipmer will be upgraded. In addition, 90 Government Medical Colleges across the country will be provided burn centres at a cost of Rs. 900 crore under the XII Finance Commission, he said.

The Union Government has also written to the MCI to make compulsory three weeks of training in trauma care and also to provide advanced laboratory support for trauma. With the growing number of accident and other trauma cases, it is critical to spread awareness among the community, especially in terms of preventing burns in the household.

In addition, Jipmer will also be introducing a MD course in Emergency Medicine, with six candidates being admitted this year.

More funds

The Central government will be increasing the funding and infrastructure to set up a separate department of emergency and trauma care, Mr. Jagdish Prasad said.

Speaking at the inauguration, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences M.C. Mishra said AIIMS had currently won a grant for a tie-up with Monash University in Australia to collect data on trauma and accidents in hospitals across the country.

National trauma policy

There is a need for a national trauma policy, which will help strengthen the care given to patients who have suffered from trauma. There are currently huge gaps in terms of the required infrastructure, communication and policies to manage trauma care in the country.

In order to build capacity for trauma care providers, there are a number of courses being introduced across the country. AIIMS will now be starting an MCH Trauma soon.

Integrated trauma care

Also, all the six AIIMS and the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences are planning collaboration to provide integrated trauma care, he said.

According to studies, the country can expect to lose over 3 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product on trauma care, but the current federal budget is much lower. Injury is the disease of the young and in the country there is a one in five chance of dying in a crash. These numbers indicate that there is a need to strengthen the trauma care soon, he said.

Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Puducherry Government, G. Ragesh Chandra, President of the International Federation for Emergency Medicine Peter Cameron and Director-Trauma Services, Alfred Health, Melbourne Mark Fitzgerald also spoke at the function.