Law for emergency treatment stuck,so fresh effort made

In the two years since,Gujarat,Karnataka and Delhi have adopted and implemented provisions that Maharashtra envisaged. Gujarat implemented in February 2007 a full-fledged EMS Act that,ironically,officials in the Maharashtra Health Department are now referring to. The National Rural Health Mission(NRHM) too has since adopted EMS as a component,and appointed a special EMS cell this year.

A key provision of the proposed Act is that ambulance providers would be under one centralised mechanism in the city,each allocated a specific area,ensuring minimum time loss in reaching trauma victims. Others included legal sanction to paramedics to provide emergency treatment under telephonic instructions from doctors,and compulsory that all hospitals provide emergency treatment without demanding security deposits.

Dr Pravin Shingare,joint director,Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER),said,“When I was Dean of JJ Hospital,we had several meetings with officer on special duty Dr Sanjay Bijwe. We were facing problems with implementing a centralised ambulance system.”

Dr Gustad Davar,director of medical services at PD Hinduja Hospital,agreed,“Bringing all ambulance providers under one umbrella proved a problem,as they did not agree to stick to their appointed areas. We are trying to convince them.”

Dr Shingare added private hospitals had objected to the last provision,too,despite a Supreme Court directive. Ahead of the 26/11 anniversary,Health Secretary Jayant Banthia convened a special meeting with stakeholders last month. “We are working to start afresh from where the Act had been dropped,”a DMER official said.

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