City to get 30 first aid centres

The Capital will be soon dotted with 30 odd emergency care centres, as a new initiative called Aapka Urgicare Pvt Ltd promises. The first centre at Vikas Marg, east Delhi, was inaugurated by city health minister A K Walia on Tuesday.

CEO of Aapka Urgicare Dr Pervez Ahmed said the idea is to provide immediate care during the first ‘golden hour’ after an accident or conditions like heart attack. The centre will run round the clock. The charges will be lower than most private hospitals in the city, he said.

He said the normal plaster for fracture of lower limb in emergency costs anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 20,000, depending on the hospital. The ‘urgent care’ centre will provide the same in the range of Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500. The consultation fee for doctors is kept at Rs 250.

“What is missing in Delhi is pre-hospital medical care. It becomes worse if there is a disaster situation. Last year in the Delhi High Court bomb blast, 40 per cent of the casualties were due to bleeding from lower limbs. With such centres, we will have more expertise to deal with these incidents,” said Dr Ahmed.

The company plans to start 34 such centres in Delhi and NCR in the next 18 months. Services to be provided are emergency treatment, X-ray, pharmacy, pathology and physiotherapy.

One ALS ambulance per centre will be available through a joint venture with a Danish
company.

“As hospital emergency rooms are overburdened, people have to wait for five to six hours for even minor services. We will bridge that gap,” said Dr Ahmed.

The centres will also refer patients to other hospitals, depending on the need. Hospitals have been graded from trauma point of view. One criterion is neuro-surgeon.

First grade hospital needs to have at least one, grade two should be able to arrange one, and grade three will not have a neurosurgeon. There are many more criteria for such grading.

“We are also establishing linkages with government hospitals. Below Poverty Line patients can be sent there only if they need treatment beyond urgent care,” said Dr Ahmed.

Each centre has a staff of 35, including five doctors.