Peerless Hospital trains resources in emergency/trauma care

For the last four years, Peerless offers a 3-year full-time Masters in Emergency Medicine Program, to train 12 fellows per year. For this, the Hospital has collaborated with The Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine (RRIEM) at the George Washington University, which has extensive experience training health care practitioners throughout the US and across the globe.

Other than providing Emergency Care they are developing their knowledge base in terms of offering Post Graduate Courses in Medicine for doctors in not only Emergency Medicine but also through DNB courses in trauma-related specialties. Hence by nurturing the Emergency and Trauma Services a new lineage of trained human recourse is taking its shape in alliance with the related trauma specialties.

“Regarding emergency trauma care, a few minutes can mean the difference between life and death.  This first hour of definitive medical care is called the “golden hour,” says Roy.

"It is usually this first hour where the patient’s medical fate is sealed.  In general – the faster the medical care is rendered- the better is the medical outcome.”

Dilip Samadar, Managing Director, Peerless Hospital, on the occasion, said: “To improve this situation Peerless Hospital Emergency Department has appropriately designed a trauma care system that enables patients with potentially serious injuries to access a process that minimizes the time from injury to definitive and standardized care. The aim is to ‘get the right patient in the right time’.”

Said Dr. Indraneel Dasgupta, Clinical Director, Department of Emergency Medicine, Peerless Hospital “Fulfilling the norms in the West (where Level I Trauma Care centres handle 1200 patients a year) we have raised the bar by treating 3000 patients a year; hence, ahead of Level I Trauma Care centre.”.

Peerless Hospital said its Emergency Department was completely revamped and upgraded 3 years back. 

"We have seen  41,126 patients out of which 26,384 required admission.  More than 10,941  patients were terminal or critical in nature where the chances of survival were meagre.  The home coming of such critical patients brought back several other patients when they faced an emergency and the trust factor grew at a fast pace.  The belief and confidence of the patients in our Emergency Management has brought us to an important mile stone, the upgradation of the Emergency Department into Peerless Institute of Trauma for Best and Comprehensive Care," said Roy.

In its most basic sense, trauma means injury to the body. In medicine, the term typically refers to the most severe injuries — those that threaten life and limb. Unlike most emergency room patients, trauma patients require highly specialized care, including surgery and blood transfusions. Time is a critical factor, so trauma treatment should be given within the first hour (the so-called "golden hour") following injury.

Motor vehicle crashes (22.8%) account for the majority of all trauma-related injuries and deaths in India. However, suicidal and homicidal injuries due to guns and knives are also very high. Unfortunately, traumatic injuries are quite common: More than 330,000 injuries occur in India annually — half of these require medical treatment and 80,000 lives are lost. Trauma-related deaths occur in India every 1.9 minutes and India loses approximately 2-2.5% of its GDP to only Road Traffic Injuries.

According to S. K. Roy, the golden hour is not just limited to traumatic emergency situations.  "This first hour of emergency medical care is also very important in situations such as heart attack or stroke, where time is heart muscle or brain tissue.  Emergent medical interventions can have a profound impact on a patient’s survival and ultimate ability to function."