Trauma resulting from road accidents, burns, falls, assaults and other sudden musculoskeletal injuries is internationally accepted as the leading cause of deaths under the age of 40.[break]
"With the rise in road accidents, deaths and trauma cases related to traffic incidents have also increased in recent years," said Ganesh Rai, chief at the Traffic Directorate.
He said that billions of rupees are spent in the treatment of the injured every year but the concerned authorities have not yet shown seriousness to deal with the issue.
"The fact that we do not have a trauma care facility even in the capital clearly indicates that the problem has been completely overlooked," said Rai.
He said that district, zonal and regional hospitals are ill-equipped to take care of big casualties.
The police also point to the lack of pre-hospital care in case of serious injuries. In most cases where the police are involved in the rescue of accident victims, they bring the injured to the road. "But as most of our ambulances are ill-equipped, hundreds of accident victims die due to the lack of proper pre-hospital care," said Rai.
"When it comes to trauma cases, every second counts," Dr Ashok Bajracharya, Director at Trauma Centre, said, adding, "A lot of deaths and complete disabilities can be prevented if we have a good pre-hospital care system."
He is of the view that the doctors should first try to save the life of patients rather than waste the critical time asking their name and address.
Dr Bajracharya said that trauma is a serious health issue and has huge social and economic costs. In Nepal, trauma is said to be third common cause of deaths and fourth common cause of physical disabilities.
Hundreds of people have been losing productive years of their lives to disabilities. According to Dr Bajracharya, research has shown that out of the total deaths in accidents, 20 percent died on the spot. Another 20 percent died in the course of treatment and the remaining 60 percent died on the way to hospital.
"Hundreds of lives could be saved if we had proper trauma care facility," he claimed. He said that even the doctors need special training for handling trauma patients. "Training of pre-hospital should be given to the police, rescue workers, locals along the highways and even to the doctors, nurses, paramedics and ambulance staffers," he added.
Director Bajracharya said that Trauma Centre, which is likely to come into operation soon, will provide basic life saving training to all rescue workers, doctors, police and others concerned. He asked the government to establish preventive measures which can save more lives.
Government asking India to handover trauma centre
KATHMANDU, Feb 24: The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) said that it has urged the Indian government to hand over the building of trauma center that was completed some four years ago. The center, built at the cost of Rs 1.5 billion, is one of the largest medical assistance of the Indian government.
The MoHP said that it has sent formal letters several times to the Indian embassy asking it to initiate the process to hand over the ownership of the building to Nepal government.
The ministry has also formed a handover committee as recommended by the Indian embassy and fulfilled other requirements.
"We are fully prepared to run the center," said Dr Pravin Mishra, secretary at MoHP, adding, "We will immediately being providing services after they handover the ownership of the building to us."
He said that the ministry has appointed a director and an Indian expert and allocated the budget for recruiting the manpower required to operate the center, as asked by the Indian embassy. Following the request of the Nepal government, the Indian side has agreed to let MoHP use the third floor of the building for administrative works.
Mahendra Lal Shrestha, under secretary at the ministry, who is tasked to oversee the administrative works of the center, said it would take several months to bring the center into full operation as the Indian government has said it would need more time to install the necessary equipments.
"Technicians also need to be trained to handle the equipments. So it will take several months to bring the center into full operation," said Shrestha.
The government has decided to run the 200-bed sophisticated center as an independent institution and has also issued separate guidelines for its operation.
Earlier, the Indian embassy had requested the government to take the ownership of the center after its construction was completed.
The government indifference in taking charge of the centre at that time as delayed the handover process. The Indian government had even provided training to the staffers of Bir Hospital in India to bring the center into operation.
Dr Ashok Bajracharya, Director at Trauma Centre
What is trauma care? How much attention is needed to save lives?
Trauma is a serious health issue with huge social and economical impacts. The trauma care tries to gain maximum output by using minimum investment. It is an integrated attempt by doctors to save life by all possible means available. It ensures that victims are sent to the right hospital in the right time for effective cure.
The trauma care minimizes risks and often saves the injured from being disabled. We don´t yet have a facility dedicated to trauma care. I hope the trauma center built by the Indian government will fulfill the void.
Hundreds of people have been dying avoidable death, mainly those resulting from road accidents. We can reduce casualties and disabilities from such accidents if we have well-equipped trauma care facility.
Do you mean the hospital care is not sufficient to take care of trauma patients?
Of course, the nearby hospital is not the best place to save the life of an injured or prevent him from becoming disabled. Not all doctors are trained to handle trauma patients. If we take a victim who has sustained serious injury to his head to a hospital that does not have neurological treatment facility, he may die on the way to another hospital.
A trauma center is unlikely to make such mistake. It will always send victims to the hospitals where they´ll get best treatment for their condition.
The trauma center will have specialists from most faculties who will send victims to the right place in case they need advanced care. Researches have shown that up to 50 percent deaths from accidents can be reduced through trauma care.
What will be the especial features of the center?
The center will provide complex, multidisciplinary treatment, including neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, general surgery, cardiac service and others. If the doctors at the center cannot cure patients, they will refer them to the right place in right time. The center will be developed as an academic institution as well as a central referral center. The center will also train doctors and rescue workers.
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