Chennai: In a bid to handle accident and emergency cases with zero delay and in an organised way, construction of a level-two trauma ward is under way at Kilpauk Medical College and Hospital (KMCH).
As per GO No. 179, KMCH is one among the six hospitals in the State selected to have infrastructure under the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative (TAEI).
“An emergency department is already functional at the hospital which is being renovated and built as level-two facility as per the National Health Mission norms. They newly-renovated structure will have under one roof all the facilities required to treat an emergency case,” said KMCH Dean, Dr P Vasanthamani.
As per the order, the human resource cost for the first three years would be borne by the Centre and following which the liability would be shifted to the State government. The Centre has approved and granted Rs 3.80 crore per hospital for the construction of the facility.
Level-one centre is functioning at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai.
According to the Dean, the renovation process began around six months ago and is nearing completion. “It is expected to be completed in around three weeks,” she added.
Explaining about the facilities, Dr Vasanthamani said, “It would have the six pillars prescribed by TAEI – PREM (pediatric-related emergency care and medicine), toxicology, Stroke Care by Rapid Intervention with Plasminogen activator and Thrombectomy (SCRIPT), orthopedics, cardiology and ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI).”
Soon after an emergency case is brought to the institution, based on the seriousness, s/he would be given treatment. The hospital follows triage method where the red zone indicates critical care, yellow indicates cases that are not as serious as the ones in green zone are non-emergency patients.
Additionally, a high-dependency (HD) unit is expected to be part of the ward that would cater to the needs of patients who require immediate emergency care management for 48 hours. Seven beds each for red and yellow zones, two for green and 10 for HD unit have been allocated.
Asked about the difference from level-one and level-two, she stated, “The major difference is in human resource: while in level-one centres the specialist doctors would be present round-the-clock, here they would be available on call.”