Chennai: The number of trauma cases has come down drastically in Tamilnadu and six level-one centres to give trauma healthcare facilities with state-of-the-art equipment are being improved, said State Health Secretary, Dr J Radhakrishnan.
Participating at ‘World Trauma Day’ organised by Apollo Children’s Hospitals here Wednesday, he said, 75 hospitals that are well-equipped to cater to traumatic accidents immediately are also being given a facelift.
“Since accidents cannot be prevented from occurring, we must enhance the facilities and create awareness. To improve the existing infrastructure, we have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Victoria government, Australia. Youngsters and children must actively advocate safe riding and act as first responders during emergency,” Radhakrishnan said.
Apollo Children’s Hospital and Apollo Shine Foundation, a not-for-profit student’s initiative, had organised a 10-day awareness campaign, ‘Voice of the Students’, across schools in the city with the objective to educate motorists on road safety.
The award ceremony was held Wednesday and emergency care providers and students honoured.
In addition, the hospital signed an MoU with Alert, an NGO that trains common people in managing emergency cases.
Apollo Hospitals regional director, Medical Services, Dr Sathyabhama, said, “Accident injuries and death cases have to be tackled with utmost expertise and dedication. It must be appreciated that the employees of emergency care work round-the-clock to cater to the needs of the patients with injuries of all kinds.”
“In India, we see 400 fatalities a day which is 17 per hour, with 16 children dying on Indian roads daily with one death happening every 4 minutes. Ninety per cent of these are due to driver carelessness and only 10 per cent due to other reasons,” she said.
Tamilnadu Additional General of Police, Dr Ravi, who was one among the guests of honour, emphasised the importance of abiding by rules and regulations while driving.