Karnataka government is gearing up to establish trauma care centres in 275 community health centres to provide quick relief to victims of road accidents. The government has already released Rs 46.9 crore for setting these trauma centres. Around Rs 25 lakh will be spent on the physical structure of each centre. These centres would come up over the next three years in the towns along the national and state highways.
The trauma centres will be established at a distance of very 30 kilometer on the highways in the State. The cost of the project has been estimated at Rs. 150 crore.
The 44 trauma centres have been established under the Karnataka Health Systems Development Project aided by the World Bank. These centres are providing 24-hour service.
According to Karnataka health minister R Ashok, the government has sanctioned 525 ambulances to various hospitals in the state. The 50 ambulances had been distributed to hospitals in 2006-2007. The newly commissioned ambulances are equipped with oxygen cyclinders, ventilator, spinal board and audio system. The cost of each vehicle is Rs 11.22 lakh.
About 300 ambulances would be purchased over the next three years with the participation of non government organizations and the Fire and Emergency Services department. Each trauma centre has been established at a cost of Rs 25 lakh. An intensive care until would be provided at the KC General Hospital.
Identified centres for trauma units are Anekal, Hoskote, Kanakapura, Bharamasagar, Sirigere, Channagiri, Harihar, Bangarpet, Chickaballapur, Chintamani, Bhadravathi, Ainur, Tiptur, Kunigal, Sira, Badami, Ilkal, Naganur, Kongawad, and Nodagundi.
Right now, much of the trauma cases are handled only at the Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Accident Relief and Rehabilitation. For specific head injuries the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) is the other facility to treat the victims.
According to figures available with the Karnataka government, the year 2006 witnessed 792 fatal cases, 36235 non-fatal cases, 7973 serious cases and 60940 non-serious injured cases in the state, most of them in the national highways and state highways.