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AMARS ( Ambulance
Mobike And Rescue Services)
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AMARS was launched in November 2004 and
operates from within the Accident and Emergency Department
at CMC. This service is the first of its kind in the country
and has its own call centre at in the hospital, and its own
emergency phone number – 98148-29301. AMARS provides
rescue and immediate first aid to trauma victims in and
around the city. The project is specifically tuned to take
care of the first ‘golden hour’ of trauma. It also attend
to medical emergencies. |
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Research
Before launching this project lot of research
work was done by us and some shocking facts were discovered:
India has the highest accident rate in the world
that is 142 per 10,000 vehicles whereas in European countries it
is only two per 10,000 vehicles. Thus traffic accidents present
a real public health problem
Till March 31, 2004, there were 35, 29,160 motor
vehicles in Punjab and the number is increasing with addition of
two lakh vehicles every year.
In the last few years, the number of motor vehicles in
Punjab
has risen but the width of the roads in the state
is still the same.
In the last six years, 24,839 accidents have been reported in
the state with 21,104 injured and as many as 14,912 dead.
The number of deaths due to road accidents in the state is four
times the deaths due to murders.
Motor-vehicle-related incidents, including pedestrian-caused and
bicyclist-caused accidents, are the most common causes of road
traffic accident deaths.. But with right pre-hospitalization
management, which includes care in first one hour of the injury,
can help save precious lives and this is the main aim of AMARS
unit
What
led to the development of AMARS:
Road accidents affect the rich and the poor alike.
The delay in reaching a hospital and poor initial management in
trauma care causes inevitable complications. The management of
trauma has made great strides worldwide in recent years,
especially in more affluent countries, as the importance of
pre-hospital care has been recognized. Yet, so little attention
is being paid to pre-hospital trauma care in our country. Ludhiana
is a city of contrasts comprising many wealthy industrialists
living alongside a large number of poor immigrant laborers
seeking work. There is an increasing density of population and a
rising number of road traffic accidents.
Motor-vehicle-related incidents, including pedestrian-caused and
bicyclist-caused accidents, are the most common causes of road
traffic accident deaths. But with right pre-hospitalisation
management, which includes care in first one hour of the injury,
can help save precious lives and this is the main aim of AMARS
unit,
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AMARS has all the facilities for
Critical Care Transport
— The level of
transport care that is provided to patients with an
immediate life-threatening illness or injuries associated
with single or multiple organ system failure. This level of
care requires an expert level of provider knowledge and
skills, a setting providing necessary equipment, and the
ability to handle the added challenge of transport. Critical
care transport requires a high level of medical direction
and sophistication of care because of the patient’s complex
medical problems. |
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Mission
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The mission of AMARS is to reduce death and
disability by providing the much needed care during the Golden
Hour of Trauma.
Aim:
The benefits of successful implementation of this
plan helps in achieving the following aims: (1) a reduction in
deaths caused by trauma; (2) a reduction in the number and
severity of disabilities caused by trauma; (3) an increase in
the number of productive working years through reduction of
death and disability; (4) a decrease in the costs associated
with initial treatment and continued rehabilitation of trauma
victims; (5) a decrease in the impact of the disease on "second
trauma" victims – families. This is an urgent call for action.
When it comes to trauma, time is truly a life and death matter.
Facilities:
To ensure rapid evacuation and transport of such
injured persons to hospital, CMCH has procured two ambulances
and two mobikes at the cost of Rs. 10 lakh. These ambulances and
mobikes have equipment like defibrillator, pulse oximeter,
cardiac monitors, portable suction, oxygen cylinders, central
air-conditioning system, portable ventilator and specially
designed stretcher-cum-trolleys at a further cost of Rs 14 lakh.
All emergency medical drugs, dressing splints, spine boards and
cervical collars are also being stocked in these ambulances and
mobikes.
An amount of Rs 52 lakh had been
invested in the project. The funds were raised by the Friends of
Ludhiana in U.S.A & UK.
The AMARS team is able to reach even the congested localities
without any loss of time on mobikes.
The mobikes have played a
crucial role in making the project a success. They are equipped
with oxygen, resuscitation and access kit, cervical collar, ECG
and saturation monitor, endotracheal tube, stilletes and
airways, and medicines. Mobile phones are also provided for
communicating with the control room and the ambulance team.
A number,
98148-29301 has also been assigned for easy access of the service to
the city residents. This has been done to avoid wasting even a
single minute waiting to get connected to the department.
Employees:
The team of AMARS includes trained professionals. We
have Chief Casuality Medical Officer, Co-ordinators, Trainers,
Ambulance Paramedics in the team.
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Training:
Appropriate training to emergency service
personnel and proper equipping of their vehicles is the key
to ensure effective pre-hospital care. CMCH had taken the
help of the UK Ambulance Services to run a special course
for team members involved in the care of these patients. The
six-week training program was conducted in September, 2003.
Miss Zena Hart and Mr. Adam from the were here to impart
training to the personnel involved in the project.
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The British team had made
periodic visits to the CMCH for proper follow-up in the
intervening period since they intended to adopt the project as a
model for developing ambulance services in other countries.
The paramedics have been given training by Gerry Carpinini from
West Country Ambulance Services,
NHS, .Capriani, himself a paramedic,
has been imparting training for the past 15 years in the .
The team is being taught skills relevant to trauma, namely
airway management, oxygen therapy, fluid resuscitation, spinal
immobilization, monitoring, extrication and maintenance of
normal body temperature. The team will be visiting regularly for
training purposes and intends to adopt the CMCH as a model for
developing ambulance services in countries not having these
services.
Functioning:
The AMARS control room receives distress call and
take down location, the motorbike team sets off to reach site,
stabilizes and resuscitates the patient and inform the ambulance
team. The ambulance reaches the site, retrieves and informs the
Emergency department about the status and requirements
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The patient will be shifted to
which hospital is decided according to the condition and
patients requirements and attendants choice. If the patient
is shifted to CMC , emergency and trauma centre team gets
ready to receive the patients by the time the ambulance
reaches the hospital premises.
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Trauma Centre:
CMC has the state of the art
North India ’s first Emergency and
trauma centre. The centre is the meticulous blend of
professional acumen and technological ingenuity, equipped with
contemporary patient care equipment offering a gamut of world
class facilities to deal with multiple traumas. Compressed over
an area of seven thousand one hundred square feet, the trauma
centre has 25 beds with provision made for expansion in case of
disasters, 2 fully equipped resuscitation rooms and 12 beds with
cardiac monitors. There is a separate pediatric area, specially
equipped suturing room, orthopedic room and a room for the
treatment of burn patients for the patients requiring emergency
services.
Achievements:
Training the
Community:
CMC also believes that every individual has an important role to
play in saving precious lives. Therefore it has been CMC
endeavor to educate the common public.
AMARS department is
running a training program for the PCR .Till now several persons
have been given training.
Future Projections:
To increase the
number of Mobikes and Ambulances to 12 each.
To be able to
cover the whole of
Punjab .
To integrate these services with like minded organizations
To be able to
launch Air Rescue in the next five years |
