30-bed trauma centre becomes operational at Nashik civil hospital

Nashik: The Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS)-managed Maharashtra Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (MPGIMER) has set the ball rolling on the trauma centre at the Nashik civil hospital.

The project, a brainchild of the institute dean, Maj Gen Dr Sushil Kumar Jha (retd), has the backing of the MUHS Vice-Chancellor Lt Gen Dr Madhuri Kanitkar (retd).

“There is a dire need to have a proper trauma centre at the civil hospital. There are many national and state highways that pass through the district and accidents can take place anytime. Our aim is to develop this trauma centre on the lines of the similar centre at AIIMS, Delhi within the next 2-3 years. It would ensure quality interdisciplinary medical care to save lives and limbs of patients,” stressed Dr Jha while speaking to TOI.

According to him, this trauma centre is an integration of the civil hospital’s casualty that handles emergency cases and MPGIMER’s department of emergency medicine.

MPGIMER has been set up by MUHS to impart postgraduate medical education to students. It is currently functional at civil hospital as its own building needs time to take shape.

MPGIMER in association with civil hospital administration has set up 30 beds at the trauma centre. The centre has been segregated into three zones having 10 beds each — the red zone where critical patients undergo treatment, the yellow zone where patients are not critical are kept and the green zone where patients have minor injuries are looked after mainly for pain management.

Each of the beds in the red zone have been equipped with a monitor, uninterrupted medical oxygen supply, infusion pumps, etc. and the condition of the patient is monitored closely round-the-clock. The beds at the yellow zone, too, have monitors and other medical gadgets.

The injured patients of the bus that met with an accident in Nashik city on October 8 were initially wheeled into this trauma centre.

“The operation room at the centre is being renovated so that major surgeries could be done immediately. A pathological lab at the centre, too, would take shape. The centre would have specialists in emergency medicine, orthopaedics, general and neurosurgery, anaesthetist and physician. We are developing a system in coordination with local agencies like police where the trauma centre will receive immediate information about accidents so that preparations can be made immediately at the centre to handle the injured,” added Dr Jha.

MPGIMER’s associate professor and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gopal Shinde, who reached the trauma centre within 15-20 minutes after being informed of the accident, said that the operation room would enable to perform surgeries on patients in the shortest possible time. He had performed surgeries on two elderly bus passengers.