Emergency care centres will be established close to highways at 11 more places across the State to treat and save those injured in road accidents, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said.
Work to establish such centres is under way at Madhanur in Vellore district, Soolagiri in Krishnagiri district, Madhuranchavadi in Salem district, Madurai Kamaraj University in Madurai district and Gummidipoondi in Tiruvallur district. Steps are being taken to make them functional soon, he said in Kodumbalur on Saturday.
The centres, which are presently functioning at six locations in the State, have provided treatment to as many as 56,586 persons, the Minister said, after inaugurating an improved round-the-clock free emergency care centre on the premises of the Government Primary Health Centre at Kodumbalur.
The centre has been set up along the Madurai-Chennai National Highway at a cost of ₹1 crore. A team of four doctors and 10 nurses will be deployed there.
Mr. Vijayabaskar said the centres were being established to reduce the time taken to rush the injured to facilities for treatment. The time taken to shift the injured to the centre, from the accident spot, will be lesser compared to the time it takes to move them to a hospital. Stating that the establishment of free emergency care centres was a pioneering effort, he said that steps were being taken in Goa as well to emulate the same.
Pudukottai Collector P. Uma Maheswari and Health Department officials were present during the inauguration of the centre.
