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| EDITORIAL |
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| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 20
| Issue : 2 | Page : 55-56 |
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Challenge ahead: The new level 1 trauma center of christian medical college, Vellore, Ranipet Campus
Kundavaram Paul Prabhakar Abhilash
Department of Emergency Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| Date of Submission | 05-Apr-2022 |
| Date of Decision | 05-Apr-2022 |
| Date of Acceptance | 06-Apr-2022 |
| Date of Web Publication | 07-May-2022 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Kundavaram Paul Prabhakar Abhilash
Department of Emergency Medicine, Christian Medical College, Vellore - 632 004, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/cmi.cmi_37_22
How to cite this article:
Abhilash KP. Challenge ahead: The new level 1 trauma center of christian medical college, Vellore, Ranipet Campus. Curr Med Issues 2022;20:55-6 |
Trauma is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in India and other developing countries. Every year, about 5 million people across the world die from injuries.[1] Road traffic accidents (RTAs) comprise the majority of trauma, up to 80% in some studies.[2] This is due to the ever-increasing number of automobiles and motorized vehicles and the rapid expansion of high-speed highways and expressways across the length and breadth of the country. Many roads in India are unsafe, and traffic regulations are rarely followed by drivers and seldom strictly enforced by the police. Alcohol is another evil that significantly impacts vigilance of the driver and is known to a factor in 15%–20% of accidents causing severe head injury.[3] According to the National Trauma Statistics, Tamil Nadu is the state with the highest number of RTAs in India.[2]
This begs the question: Is India and Tamil Nadu, in particular, equipped and prepared to handle this load of patients with nearly fatal and debilitating injuries? The Tamil Nadu government, through the Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency care Initiative, has made a commendable effort in improving trauma care with regard to prehospital training, care, and setting up of emergency services across the state.[4] The government has prioritized the need for quality trauma care and set up several initiatives, not only to reduce the overall burden but also to improve outcomes. The recently introduced novel NK 48 scheme, under which victims of RTA occurring within the borders of Tamil Nadu state will be provided with free emergency treatment for 48 h, has been widely appreciated.[5] To support the sheer number of patients, trauma centers focusing only on trauma care are the need of the hour. In particular, level 1 trauma centers, defined as a comprehensive regional resource that is a tertiary care facility capable of providing total care for every aspect of injury, from prevention through rehabilitation are of paramount importance.[6] Currently, the only two level 1 centers in the entire country are in the government sector in North India.
In response to the need for specialized and comprehensive trauma care for patients from Tamil Nadu and the surrounding states, in 2016, Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, took the initiative to plan for quaternary care facility that includes a level 1 trauma center [Figure 1]. This initiative is in line with our founder's philosophy of responding to community needs and considers trauma to be a major public health issue. The new hospital is strategically placed in Kannigapuram, a previously sleepy village on the Chennai–Bengaluru highway in Ranipet district, to cater to the needs of the maximum number of trauma victims possible and is near completion. The core trauma team comprising emergency physicians, surgical specialties, intensivists, and anesthetists involved in trauma care equipped with state-of-the-art technology would form the backbone of this new trauma center. This facility aims to provide world-class care by amalgamating international concepts with local needs and realities. Trauma care will be streamlined and have a dedicated area to ensure that these patients are not clubbed with other emergencies. CMC hopes to set up a nodal center not only for the best clinical care in trauma in our part of the world but also for high-quality education, research, and public health services. | Figure 1: The new level 1 trauma center at Kannigapuram, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Ranipet campus
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A significant challenge would be providing high-quality prehospital care to trauma victims as most of the “golden hour of trauma” lies within the prehospital transport of trauma victims to trauma centers. Challenging times lie ahead, but we hope and pray that this new endeavor will be a resounding success in providing high-quality timely resuscitation and definitive care for trauma victims in and around Vellore and Ranipet districts.
| References | |  |
| 1. | |
| 2. | Abhilash KP, Chakraborthy N, Pandian GR, Dhanawade VS, Bhanu TK, Priya K. Profile of trauma patients in the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital in South India. J Family Med Prim Care 2016;5:558-63.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
| 3. | Prabhakar Abhilash KP, Lath D, Kowshik J, Jose A, Chandy GM. Blood alcohol levels in road traffic accidents: Factors associated and the relationship between history of alcohol consumption and blood alcohol level detection. Int J Crit Illn Inj Sci 2019;9:132-7. |
| 4. | |
| 5. | |
| 6. | Pushpa KS. The need for level I trauma centers in India. Curr Med Issues 2020;18:343. [Full text] |
[Figure 1]
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