Over 1,500 doctors from Delhi received training on emergency trauma care here at the two-day workshop, called the Comprehensive Trauma Life Support workshop (CLTS), organised by Sri Ganga Ram Hospital in collaboration with the International Trauma Care (ITC), a non-profit association of professionals who conducts educational programmes worldwide.

The training was provided by 20 international and 30 national faculty members from the USA, the UK, Australia and Japan. It was followed by a three-day conference, called the 23rd international trauma care conference, which was conducted to bring awareness about the latest developments in trauma care and to better equip the doctors, nurses and paramedic staff in handling road accident patients.

Ganga Ram Hospital’s board of management chairman Dr B K Rao said that the death rate in India due to road accidents is six times higher than that in the developed countries and that India needs better infrastructure, better funding and standards of treatment for trauma care patients to reduce burden of road accident deaths.

“1.18 lakh deaths occur in India due to road accidents. Nearly 300 people die every day in India due to road accidents. 70 percent males, mostly between the age group of 20 to 50 years, die in these accidents and it has a major impact on the society and on families. Country’s three percent of GDP loss is on the care of these patients,” said Rao.

Rao, who is also the organising chairman of Trauma 2010, added that there is a vast rural-urban divide in providing emergency care to patients. It is the journey to the hospital from the scene of accident that is most important, he said.

Better ambulance services and timely pre-hospital trauma care would help prevent at least 10 percent risk of deaths due to accidents, said Michael J Parr, chairman, International Scientific Committee and representative of the ITC.

Parr added that simple preventable strategies like following speed limits, not drinking and driving, wearing seat belts and helmets and by not using mobile phones while driving can prevent road accident deaths.

A report of the findings of the conference will be sent to the health ministry by the organisers at the end of the conference so that they can make best use of it while policy formation. It was informed by the organisers that 20 trauma centres are under construction by the government in northern India in areas like Srinagar, Chandigarh, Amritsar, Rhotak and Karnal among other areas. Trauma care centres highways are also being planned.

According to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2009, published by World Health Organisation (WHO), Worldwide 5.1 million people die every year due to road accidents. India records one road accident death every two minutes.