Published: Sunday, Jan 2, 2011, 2:14 IST
By Rajendra Aklekar | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
Commuters who fall off the train or are run over by a train now have a brighter chance of survival as the Central Railway this week issued categorical instructions to shift victims to the nearest available hospital instead of transporting them to a government or civic hospital. It is important to attend to an accident victim immediately after a serious injury, known as the golden hour.
"The railways are taking accident victims at Byculla all the way to Mumbai CST station to be admitted at St George Hospital, which is about 4.5km away, when they have a fully-equipped railway hospital located at Byculla itself," Sameer Zaveri, director (accidents) of Mumbai Suburban Railway passengers Association, said.
"The railway hospital at Byculla is less than 500 meters from the station -- a 10 minute walk or a 2-3 minute drive. In fact, an ambulance is available at the hospital 24 hours of the day," he said.
"As of now, the victim is moved in a local train to CST station and from thereon he is carried on a stretcher over a distance of 500 metres or made to walk to St George Hospital, which can prove fatal for many," he added.
On December 28, senior divisional manager KN Singh shot off a letter to the station master at Byculla instructing him to shift the victims to the railway hospital at Byculla instead of taking them to St George Hospital.
"There are much greater chances of the victim's survival as he would get the required medical help in the golden hour, a crucial period immediately after serious injuries," added Zaveri, a railway accident victim himself, who had approached the court.
"This was also contempt of the high court directions that all accident victims should be taken to the nearest hospital government or private hospital," he said.
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