How can we provide better medical help to patients stuck in traffic?

How can we provide better medical help to patients stuck in traffic?

A person feeling unwell died on the way to hospital during busy evening hours in Mumbai. How can better help be given in such cases?

There are incidents, where hospitals are just a few metres away but the patients dies due to lack of basic facilities which do not reach them on time. There are various reasons, like the dealy caused by the traffic and crowd. When unavailability of proper care is experienced in a comparatively-developed city like Mumbai, then one can imagine the conditions in poor rural areas will be much worse.

India is a developing country, we can't expect all changes within a fortnight. We understand that we lack a lot on infrastructure, with a burden of burgeoning population on whatever minimum we have. We need to increase the number of hospitals and other facilities. India has one government hospital bed for 879 people on average. Also, there is poor doctor-patient ratio in India. There is only one doctor per 1,700 citizens in India. The World Health Organisation stipulates a minimum ratio of 1:1,000.

There is a need of revamping this delayed healthcare in the country, which is a bane incase the facilities do not reach the needy on time. A two pronged strategy is needed here, i.e. we must improve the already available infrastructure. Increase the quality of medical facilities we currently provide people. The second part being bringing in other facilities to enhance the healthcare facilities for the country.

We cannot copy the ideas of developed countries, but innovate specifically as per our conditions.

There should be emergency ambulances which can provide quick treatment on time. Here, we need to use an ambulance with all facilities for the treatment.

In such cases, where the patient can't reach the doctor, ambulance with all the facilities must reach the patient. It is not only about crowded areas, it is for every place a railway station, a busy metro, or remote areas of the country.

There should be Emergency Helpline Number System for these ambulances, and they should be connected to each other, so that in case of emergency the patient can be initially treated via video conferencing from the hospitals.

For metros, or local trains, automatic tunnel escalator passage should be de-veloped to fasten the commutation service.

There should be a basic first aid training given to the children in the schools, so in such a situation, crowded areas become a potential of knowledgeable people rather than burden on the ill person. People with more awareness will take more care of themselves as well.

Government should also ensure that every person should have medical insurance, as one may reach the hospital but may not be saved as may lack in monetary terms and will be unable to pay big hospital bills. Government has an overall responsibility over its citizens, it needs to work keeping in mind every small problem of its citizens.

India’s spending on GDP is minimal. It needs to be increased to provide the basic amenities to its people for better healthcare. People should not expect magical results when such a sad event occur, but we can pressurise our government to look in this important matter and develop better solutions.

As government also understands that “A healthy nation is a power potential” !