Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday called for the inclusion of emergency medicine and trauma care in the curriculum of undergraduate medical courses.
He urged all stakeholders in the health sector to develop programmes and manuals to train citizens in emergency first aid procedures such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as they would help in saving lives while waiting for emergency services.
He was speaking at the 10th Asian Conference of Emergency Medicine (ACEM).
Pointing to the over 3,700 deaths in accidents on world’s roads every day and tens of millions getting injured or disabled every year, Naidu called for stepping up investments to provide timely and high-quality emergency health services in India.
“Apart from upgrading the infrastructure in all major hospitals to meet the requirements of this emerging specialty, there is also a need to include emergency medicine and trauma care in curriculum of undergraduate courses.
“Medical students must be trained to deal with whole gamut of situations relating to emergency medicine. There is also a need to provide simulation training in emergency medicine for undergraduates and develop the necessary modules in this regard,” Naidu said.
He said he was glad that the Government has made it mandatory for all medical college hospitals to have full-fledged Emergency Departments by 2022 with an aim to improve trauma care.