World Head Injury Day: Mumbai doctor Dr Aadil Chagla aims to save lives by setting up trauma centers

To ensure that accident victims along Maharashtra highways get treatment during the golden hour, this Mumbai neurosurgeon is on a mission to set-up a trauma centre in rural Maharashtra.

Nearly 1.24 people die prematurely due to road traffic accidents globally every single year. The sad truth is that India contributes to the highest number of these deaths and was also labeled as the head injury capital of the world because of the high number of youths (15-29 years) who succumbed to injuries caused by road mishaps. The accident rate is 35 per 1000 vehicles and doctors say that nearly 70% are due to head and spinal injuries. These are the 11 first-aid tips you should follow in case of a road traffic accident.

In fact, according to the National Crime Records Bureau Report, there was a 17.6% increase in deaths due to road traffics accidents between 2008 and 2012 [1]. Here's why doctors say even women and children should wear head gears. While these figures are grim and shocking, a Mumbai-based neurosurgeon decided to do something about this so accident victims can get adequate treatment during the golden hour.

Dr Aadil Chagla, Chief of Unit II, Department of Neurosurgery in civic-run KEM Hospital and a Consultant Neurosurgeon, Breach Candy hospital went beyond his call of duty in 2014 and made it his mission to improve the medical infrastructure of trauma centers along the NH17 highway in Maharashtra. He set up the Shaukat C Chagla Memorial trust for raising funds for the trauma center.

Maharashtra has the highest number of road accidents in India and most of them take place along the NH17 highway, which has now been renumbered as NH-66. Going by the number of deaths caused by road accidents, it is estimated that India will suffer an economic loss of around 2% of GDP, says Dr Chagla.

By raising funds through the trust, my goal in 2014 was to set up a basic trauma center in rural Maharashtra that at least has an emergency Operation Theatre (OT), ICU beds and ventilators. Now, that goal is finally materializing as we are setting up our first trauma center in a village called Kambla which is 5 kms away from Mahad towards Goa, adds Dr Chagla.

The trauma center is being built in coordination with the Konkan Rural Development Charitable Association and Kazi Jal. Dr Chagla s trust raised the funds required over the last two years by organizing several concerts with prominent celebrities in Mumbai.

As of now, the primary health facilities along the NH17 highway are far from adequate to deal with road accident victim. For instance, in one such primary health facility I visited in Lanja, there were no MBBS doctors to manage the hospital, says Dr Chagla.

Dr Chagla recently spoke about trauma centers, the medical inadequacies faced in rural areas and the solutions to fix them at a TedEx event in Mumbai where he raised these issues. Here's why India needs more neuro-rehab centers.

Reference

[1] Annadurai K, Mani G, Danasekaran R. Recurring tragedy of road traffic accidents in India: Challenges and opportunities. Indian Journal of Critical Care Medicine : Peer-reviewed, Official Publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine. 2015;19(7):434-435. doi:10.4103/0972-5229.160303.

Image Source: Doctor's own pic

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