State govt launches cashless trauma care for accident victims

Bengaluru: March 9, 2016:Karnataka has become the first State to offer cashless trauma care to road traffic accident victims. The scheme which offers immediate trauma care services irrespective of their financial income, was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Under the scheme, medical care will be provided for the first 48 hours, with the government assuring a payment of Rs 25,000 per victim per episode. Siddaramaiah tweeted about the scheme immediately after launching the scheme. The scheme had figured as the ‘Mukhyamantrigala Santwana Yojane’ when it was first announced in the 2014-15 budget. The government, as a tribute to road accident victim Harish Nanjappa (23), on February 16, has named the scheme as “Harish Scheme’. Harish’s body was severed into two and he was bleeding to death when he made his wish to donate his organs. Welcoming the initiative, Harish’s mother Geetha, who was present during the launch ceremony, said that nobody should suffer the plight of her son and the trauma her family endured. Highlighting the importance of access to trauma care during the golden hour, road accident survivor, Ravindra said that owing to delayed medical assistance, he had ended up as an amputee. Health Minister U T Khader said that many factors like delay in reaching the hospital, lack of trained manpower and facilities in the referred hospital, hospitals refusing to admit patients as they are unsure who would pay for the treatment, legal issues, etc, act as barriers to access trauma care. The scheme will be implemented by the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust which has been set up under the Health department and GVK-EMRI ambulance services. (See table for details) An expert committee was involved in preparation of packages for the scheme which offers a set of 25 treatments and ancillary packages costing from a minimum of Rs 1,000 to a maximum of Rs 25,000. The software for the scheme has been developed by the National Informatics Center (NIC), where all procedures and processes are conducted on an e-platform. - DHNS