The SRM Medical College Hospital & Research Centre (MCH&RC), a constituent institute of Chennai based SRM University, is planning to set up a simulation centre envisaging world class quality in trauma and emergency care within one year.

The project, claims to be the first of its kind in India, is designed as a catapult to establish a world class trauma care and treatment centre with Level One educational modalities from the existing Level Three facility and is expected to come up with an estimated investment of Rs.5 crore, according to Prof P Sathyanarayanan, Vice Chancellor, SRM MHC&RC.

The new simulation centre is to be set up in collaboration with the Brigham Women's Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) under a MoU signed with the Partners Healthcare Systems, Boston a principal teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical College commonly known as the 'Harvard Hospitals'. The Partners Healthcare systems, comprising of Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham Women's Hospital, McLean Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, is one of the leading biomedical research organisations in US.

"We are targeting a world class trauma and emergency care centre in India, where a trauma occurs in every couple of minutes and an accident in every ten minutes. Our vision is to establish the trauma care centre within the guidelines depicted by the US authority," explained Sathyanarayanan to the press after addressing an audience of an International Symposium and workshop on Trauma care and Emergency care conducted by the college in association with the Harvard Hospitals.

He said that the simulation centre is expected to complete within one year with imported equipments to mimic the trauma and emergency situation in human body, for the students, in a real time basis. The experts from the BWH and MGH would study the existing facilities and expertise available in the institution and will determine the types of equipments and strategies essential for the up gradation of the trauma and emergency care system, maintained Dr Tobias Barker, BWH, Boston on the project.

The five-year MoU between the SRM Medical College Hospital and the Partners Healthcare has triggered its operations by the SRM Emcare 2006, inaugurated here on Thursday and will carry through training sessions for the doctors and paramedicals in SRM MCH from the Harvard Hospitals. SRM will exchange its expertise with these institutions in return as the part of the MoU, according to sources.