Three AIIMS doctors were killed while four others were injured after their car rammed a truck on the Yamuna Expressway on early Sunday. filephoto more-in Rattled by the death of three of their colleagues in a road accident, doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have questioned why there are more “food and wine shops along this accident-prone zone (Expressways) as compared to small trauma centres”. The statement comes after three AIIMS doctors who were travelling to Agra for a birthday bash were killed after their vehicle rammed a mini-truck on the Yamuna Expressway early Sunday. The crash left four other doctors injured. The vehicle in which the doctors were sitting dragged the truck for nearly 300 metres and it took the police over 30 minutes to extricate the victims from the mangled mess of vehicles. ‘Precious lives lost’ All the doctors are from the AIIMS’ emergency medicine department and Dr. Harshad Wankhade, 34, whose birthday they wanted to celebrate, died on the spot. The other deceased were Dr. Yashpreet Singh(25) and Dr. Himbala Taneja (24). The injured doctors who were under treatment at AIIMS are all said to be out of danger. Speaking about the accident and the need for better medical response in such zones, senior resident at AIIMS Dr. Vijay Gurjar said: “After we lost three precious young lives, I have a few questions to ask about this incident: Why can’t we have small trauma centres on expressways every 60-80 km? This could be attached to a bigger and more equipped centre at the distance of 200 km. We see this for large food chains so why not have medical centres, which can save precious lives?’’ The doctors are also demanding that both government and private players look into “training the patrol security team and equipping them with life-saving techniques and tools”. ‘Death hours’ “Why can’t we have airlifting facilities on e-ways? It immediately translates into saving precious time, which could mean the difference between life and death to someone,” they said. The other key demands of the doctors were strict enforcement of speed limit, lane driving, and assessment of drivers at regular intervals. “There can be no cut back on this. We have also seen that the 2 a.m-4 a.m. time period are practically death hours. We see maximum number of accidents occurring during this time. The government should look at ensuring that vehicles ply only during emergency for these two hours and also educate people about the dangers of driving at this time,” said Dr. Gurjar. He added: “It’s unbelievable how vulnerable we are. There seems to be little safety measures and no immediate medical facilities on expressways.’’ ‘Asleep at the wheel’ Meanwhile, the police have said that “since it was very late, we assume that the driver might have fallen asleep at the wheel. One of the injured doctors informed us that all of them were sleeping in the car when the accident occurred.”

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