Snakebite treatment: State launches training prog for doctors in rural hospitals

KOLKATA: After introducing a mobile App on snake bite prevention and rescue, the state Health department is now launching a training programme on treatment of snakebite patients and their effective management among general duty medical officers in hospitals and health centres in rural areas.

Training has started at different places in West Midnapore from Tuesday. Health department will organize such programmes in strategic locations in various districts. It will mainly cover the far off districts where snakebite cases are often reported. Bengal is one of the states where snakebite cases are high. Training programme will also highlight how fatalities happen due to superstitions among the villagers. Incidents are often reported from different parts of the state where people took snake bite victims to sorcerers.

State Health department has recently come up with a mobile application, "snakebite prevention and rescue" that gives a detailed guideline on how to manage snake bite cases. eThe App will also provide information about the nearest health centers where anti snake venom is available.

The App has a series of features on how to tackle snakebite patients and their initial management. The recently launched app is fitted with a GPS system and user instructions have been given in two languages ~ Bengali and English.