Total control

Jans day starts with a visit to the control room in the early hours. The doctors on night duty update him,he checks the report book,intimation file and deferment file and then forwards notes and recommendations to senior officials and faculty members for action. Being the head of the control room,I have to file my recommendations on every report to ensure quick action, he says.

After checking the files,Jan verifies if doctors at the control room have attended every call by going through the log book and the roster of the control room. Besides the routine check-ups,I have to verify whether doctors have attended to poor and unattended patients, he says.

Praising his team of doctors at the control room,Jan says they have never let people down. Though our role is to manage things in the hospitals emergency ward,we also help doctors in taking care of patients. I have myself attended to the injured several times, says Jan,who did his MBBS from Government Medical College,Srinagar,and his postgraduation in administration from SKIMS.

Jan and his team keep a close watch on arrivals at the emergency as well as other wards. Our control room is equipped with the latest communication gadgets and is always open. Even in the middle of the night,doctors are there to help patients, he says.

Jan and his team at the control room receive more than a thousand phone calls or inquiries from within and outside the state everyday. My day begins at dawn and ends at dusk. But my phone keeps ringing even at night. At times I get irritated,but then I realise it is part of my duty. Since 1999,when I joined the administration department of the hospital,it has become a routine.

Jan says the control room is the nerve centre of the hospital. From this small place,we manage everything, he says. At times,they have successfully coordinated more than 150 emergencies a day.

We have a small emergency ward in the hospital. It is due to the support of the control room that emergencies are managed properly,especially within the first hour of arrival,also called the golden hour.

Whenever there is a medical emergency in Srinagar,the control room is the first to be alerted by the police,administration or the media. Once we receive news of a medical emergency,especially blasts or accidents,we start our work by alerting various sections of the hospital,including paramedics,surgeons and the staff associated with the hospital blood bank. They even arrange for workers from the local NGOs to help the injured.

Jan regrets they could not save all the tourists who were injured in the July 28 blast in south Kashmir. Despite our best efforts,we could only save four of the six injured tourists, he says.

The control room not only coordinates with the faculty and different departments but also takes care of the hospital infrastructure. The unit also makes sure that poor and unattended patients are not burdened by hospital bills.

Every afternoon,he holds meetings with doctors in the control room. After the meetings,I ensure the machines in different departments are working, he says.

From the control room,Jan also keeps an eye on the medico-legal cases. Since our hospital is the Valleys only premier hospital,we get many medico-legal cases. And whenever such a case comes to our hospital,we have to get it registered with the police, he says.

Jan and his team also look after the disaster ward in the hospital. We have a 19-bed disaster ward. Whenever there is a disaster in any part of the Valley,we have to activate the ward and the staff within minutes. Though Jans duty ends at 5 p.m.,he never leaves the control room before 7,when doctors on night duty take charge.