Health dept chalks plan to manage disasters

During a meeting,chaired by Health Secretary Anshu Prakash and Director of Health Services Dr N V Kamat,the plan was discussed with medical superintendents of government hospitals. The meeting was held on Friday.

The quick response teams,comprising doctors and paramedics,will be trained in emergency medical response before the next mock disaster drill of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

“We are integrating almost 400 doctors and paramedics from our dispensaries into this new system. Till now,it was the responsibility of the hospitals to divide patients according to the gravity of their injury and then screen the ones who need immediate care — after they reach the hospital. Now,this task will be taken over by the QRTs,” said Dr Kamat.

Disaster victims will be put under red,yellow and green categories — known as a disaster triage — according to their decreasing urgency of need for care.

“Our purpose is to improve care and save more lives by decreasing the time taken for intervention post injury. If such a division is done at the disaster spot itself,doctors can concentrate on managing patients immediately after they reach hospital,” Dr Kamat said.

The quick response teams will have the authority to summon the deputed CAT ambulances in their jurisdiction. “We waste a lot of time in transporting victims of disaster to hospitals. Numerous researches have shown that timely and early intervention,best within an hour of injury,can save lives,” Dr Kamat said.