The Indian Air Force is planning to introduce a health information card in the form of a memory chip for all its personnel to ensure easy access to treatment during any emergency at any of its hospitals.

Once this card is available with them, they will not have to carry voluminous documents containing their medical history, Director General Medical Services, (Air Force) Air Marshal Dipankar Ganguly said.

"Our men are posted at different places at regular intervals. Suppose one of the air personnel who was undergoing treatment with a doctor in Delhi hospital gets posted to Jorhat (in Assam. He can avail of treatment at Jorhat hospital without any trouble of producing bulky documents. He has to give the doctor his health card which will reproduce the medical details through a reader," he said.

All air personnel including officers and airmen will have to carry two cards, including the identity card, he said.

In an emergency situation, the card can help the doctor under whom he is undergoing treatment to save time and give the correct medication without having to duplicate any medical tests, Ganguly said.

An agency has been engaged to help the Air Force in digitising documents. "Our office in R K Puram has voluminous documents of medical history of all air personnel. We have hired a agency which will convert the paper details to digital information," he said.