The goal of an ideal pre-hospital emergency care system should be to match the needs of the patients to the available resources so that optimal, prompt and cost-effective care can be offered

Trauma is the neglected disease of modern developing nations. Inadequate evacuation of casualties had been identified as the main cause of delay in offering medical attention, resulting in higher mortality since World War II. “Bring the doctor to the patient” approach was implemented in Germany in 1957, which very soon became the accepted norm in the European countries. Similar approach was adopted in the US but, instead of doctors, trained paramedical staffs were provided in ambulances.
In India, every 1.9 minutes one trauma related death takes place, affecting the most productive age group (20-40 years) and leading to 2-2.5 per cent GDP loss. Lack of medical attention had been attributed to 30 per cent of deaths at the site and 80 per cent of the remaining patients dying within an hour of injury. Most of these deaths are due to airway problem, respiratory failure or continuing heamorrhage which can be prevented to a great extent with appropriate pre-hospital emergency care. Considering the urgency of immediate treatment the ‘golden hour’ and ‘platinum minutes’ concepts had been developed to minimise the gap between the time of injury and initial medical attention.Unfortunately, pre-hospital trauma care is not available to most of the world’s population and India is no exception. Apart from trauma emergency care, it is also necessary following natural calamities, radiation exposure, near drowning and other medical emergencies. Basic principles of pre-hospital emergency care remain the same with certain specific issues related to each type of emergency. Read more
Source : expresshealthcare.in
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