Govt moves to reduce post-accident trauma, launches portal for data mgmt
Times of India | 16 November 2024
Kolkata: From now on, all information related to victims of road traffic accidents will have to be uploaded to the centralised Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD) portal. In an order, the health department also said no hospital should conduct a post-mortem in the case of death due to a road traffic accident on a mere manual request by cops. Hospitals have been asked to insist that the police make this request through the portal along with victim details. The same will apply to treatment records of patients involved in accident or trauma incidents.
The health department has asked all district hospitals and medical colleges to appoint a nodal officer who will coordinate the use of the portal to capture all necessary details of road traffic accident victims. The nodal officer will also coordinate with officials from the police, transport, highways, and PWD.
The recently issued guideline also mandates that SOPs related to medico-legal case documents of every injury, along with documents of drink and drive cases, be uploaded to the centralised portal.
"This will make the whole procedure more transparent and make access to the data easier. Since all data will be captured in the portal, each accident will get reported. This will also be helpful in matters of insurance," said a senior official.
In addition to proper documentation in road traffic-related deaths, the website will also have data on accident survivors, including their injury and treatment records. Relevant documents can be accessed from the portal as and when required.
So far, the autopsy on accident victims was made on a manual request by the police after they registered a case of unnatural death. Hospitals have been asked to upload the post-mortem report on the portal.
The state has also identified 49 trauma care facilities (TCF) for proper implementation of this programme, including all five teaching medical hospitals in Kolkata.
The latest guideline on how to treat accident and trauma victims and the requirement for conducting post-mortems comes after an extensive orientation programme held at Swasthya Bhawan in Sept.