Mamata likely to inaugurate new Trauma Care Centre at SSKM today

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to inaugurate the first Level-I Trauma Care Centre in the Eastern India at the IPGME&R SSKM Hospital on Monday, thereby announcing its journey.

Banerjee will also distribute special awards among some doctors for rendering exceptional services. The Trauma Care Centre (TCC) will be thrown open for public at the hospital following its inauguration by the Chief Minister.

The newly built TCC will facilitate immediate resuscitation, emergency life-saving surgery, close monitoring, investigation and rehabilitation post surgery/treatment. All the necessary infrastructure has been put in place at the 244-bed state-of-the-art TCC, housed in a 10-storeyed building on the hospital premises.

It may be mentioned that the Mamata Banerjee government has laid great stress on infrastructure development in the Health sector. Various trauma care centres have already been constructed in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Burdwan Medical College and Hospital and various others district hospitals to reduce the mortality rate in trauma patients in Bengal.

According to a senior official of SSKM Hospital, it will be the largest TCC in the eastern region, which has been demarcated as Level-I on the basis of its infrastructure facilities. The Bengal government has spent a total cost of Rs 250 crore for setting up the world class unit.

Prodded by the Chief Minister, the Health department initiated the process of setting up trauma care centres in the district hospitals.

It often becomes difficult to ferry accident victims from the districts to the city. The mortality rate in trauma patients is as high as 21 percent in the country, against six percent in the West.

Altogether there will be 40 ICU beds and as many as eight operation theatres. The assessment of patients will be done for prioritising the treatment on the ground floor of the TCC. There will also be a disaster preparedness zone that will cater to patients injured in disasters.

It has been learnt there will be three separate zones in the Trauma Care Centre, namely 'Green Zone', 'Yellow Zone' and 'Red Zone'. The 'Green Zone' will be meant for the patients requiring minor surgical interventions.

The 'Red Zone' is a place where the patients requiring immediate life support or surgery would be admitted. A day care centre will be housed at the 'Green Zone'. The 'Red Zone' on the other hand will have a separate Critical Care Unit (CCU) and Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU).