Same old ball game

DELHI: Jamia Millia ground
Dr KC Wahal, DDCA physician for 18 years

• What are the medicines or equipment you have at your disposal?
There is nothing at the grounds. I have my medical bag, which has some medicines and basic first aid stuff .

• Can that deal with something more serious than a sprain or a fever?
No. We have hospitals close to all the venues in Delhi, and so reaching a hospital quickly is never a problem. I have asked for better facilities, but that’s not happened.

• To get to a hospital quickly, you need an ambulance. Also, ambulances have oxygen and other things.
We don’t have ambulances, but there are a lot of cars at our disposal and getting to a hospital, which is always close by, isn’t a problem.

• In an emergency, you might not be able to get to a hospital on time…
That’s true.

DDCA sports secretary Sunil Dev:
We’ve always kept a doctor at matches with the required first aid kit for minor problems. We also keep a physiotherapist. Plus he has the numbers to the nearest hospital and we have enough vehicles to transport a player in case of an emergency.

PUNJAB: PCA Stadium, Mohali
• Has a doctor ready on hand for emergencies
• Has a medical room equipped with all first-aid facilities including a ECG machine
• Has a tie-up with state-of-the-art Fortis Hospital, barely 1 km away

GUJARAT: Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera
• Located on the city’s outskirts
• No qualified doctor on the field, no ambulance in case of an emergency

GCA secretary Vikram Patel:
We stock all medicines needed to treat any injury. We don’t need any ambulance as we have a tie-up with Panchsheel Hospital, which is nearby in Sabarmati. (It’s actually a 15-minute drive away in good traffic)