[1]“India still lags far behind in trauma care and there needs to be a concerted and co-ordinated effort on the part of the government and hospitals to produce results so that more patients and their families benefit,” says Dr Peter Cameron, professor of emergency medicine and academic director of the emergency and trauma centre, the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
Professor Cameron who is attending the Neutotrauma-2012, the 21st annual conference of the National Neurotrauma Society of India in Kochi, said it took a decade for Australia to put a perfect system in place.
Neurotrauma is a subspecialty in neurosurgery dealing with all aspects of traumatic injuries to brain, spine and nerves.
At a time when accidents of all sorts are on the rise, the specialised management of these cases becomes all the more important.
“There should be a clear awareness among the public on giving expert medical care to the accident victim at the earliest. In Australia if there is a long distance from the accident site to the hospital, helicopters are pressed into service and the government takes care of this,” professor Cameron said.
He stressed on the need to have a co-ordinated ambulance service across a state to ensure no wastage of time in giving care. “Private hospitals should not compete on this, but co-ordinate.
Also important is the insurance cover in this regard. Then the family can be saved the mental trauma,” said professor Cameron who is on his first visit to Kerala and fifth to India.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/prof-cameronjpgcropdisplayjpg-828