In an initiative to bridge the access to emergency healthcare during incidents of trauma on highways, Minister for Health T Harish Rao announced that 55 trauma care centres would soon be established across the State. The initiative, called Telangana Emergency Response Initiative (TERI), is set to provide immediate medical care to victims of various emergencies, including natural calamities, road accidents, workplace accidents, fire, heart attack, brain stroke, maternal and child emergency services, and medical and surgical emergencies across all the highways in the state.
The Minister on Friday, reviewed the new report prepared by the State Medical officers, who conducted a field study on the Tamil Nadu-style policy and adapted it to the requirements of Telangana. The main objective of the trauma care centre is to provide immediate medical care to victims of six types of accidents at three levels, thereby preventing loss of life as much as possible.
Through this programme, the hospitals will be equipped with the latest technology and trained paramedical personnel to provide emergency services. The services will be divided into pre-hospital and intra-hospital services to provide necessary treatment immediately based on the victim’s health condition. The trauma centres will cover all roads in Telangana and will be set up by connecting the main roads in all districts.Â
The latest technology is set to be used to ensure that the 108 ambulance reaches the accident site quickly. Trained paramedical personnel provide emergency services, and medical equipment like CPR and AED are available. Out of the current 426 ambulances, 292 vehicles have AEDs, and the remaining 133 will soon be installed.Â
Casualty departments will be converted to emergency departments, and a dedicated triage with four clinical management zones divided by colour codes will be set up. Speciality doctors, nursing, and paramedical staff will be present in each trauma care centre, with a total of 237 serving in Level 1, 101 in Level 2, and 73 in Level 3. They are given special training at the district level and given a certificate.
Studies show that 30 to 40 per cent of hospital deaths can be prevented by timely response. The government has allocated NIMS Super Specialty Hospital, 17 teaching hospitals, 21 district hospitals, and 16 area hospitals to be part of the 55 trauma care centres. The trauma care centres will have the latest medical equipment, including multi-parameter monitors, medical gas outlets, and other medical facilities
The initiative will offer help to victims during emergencies and ensure timely medical care, thereby reducing the high mortality rate caused by accidents and emergencies.
