Over a period of ten days since its inauguration, the free, 24-hour Emergency Care Centre at Injambakkam on East Coast Road (ECR), has registered 53 emergency cases, many of them resulting from road accidents. While making a sad commentary about safety on ECR, this figure clearly underlines how valuable the facility is to local residents. Located on the premises of the Government Peripheral Hospital in Injambakkam, this facility, an initiative of the State Government, was inaugurated on November 3. In such a short time, the usefulness of the facility has been demonstrated. In almost all the cases, treatment to those involved in accidents was offered within the golden hour. ECR has one of the highest number of road-related fatalities in Chennai; the time taken to reach tertiary centres during rush hour is often more than 60 minutes. “Primary health centres don’t handle trauma and other emergencies. Previously, this meant taking the patient to the closest facility, which is the Royapettah Government Hospital,” says Prabhudoss B., regional manager, GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI). With the opening of this facility, help is nearby and arrives considerably sooner than before. It caters to residents of ECR, Old Mahabalipuram Road and surrounding areas. This is the third facility of its kind in Chennai. The other two are at located at the Government General Hospital in Tambaram and on the northern outskirts in Padiyanallur. “Emergency Care Centres are a boon to the community as they increases the chance of survival,” says Prabhudoss. The seven-bed facility is integrated with the 108 Emergency Response service. Other features at the facility include a cardiac and respiratory arrest revertal, rapid sequence intubation and a medical emergency stabilisation system.

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