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KGMU trauma centre: Paediatric trauma emergency to get separate space
KGMU to launch separate paediatric orthopaedic emergency wing with 20 beds and 2 operating theaters to improve care for children's trauma cases.
Aiming to improve and expand care for paediatric trauma cases, the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) has decided to start a separate paediatric orthopaedic emergency wing.
“We have 12 beds in the present paediatric orthopaedic trauma section in the main trauma centre building, and all beds remain occupied at any given time. This shows we need to expand and with more dedicated and trained staff,” said additional professor Dr Vikas Verma, HoD, paediatric orthopaedic at KGMU.
“About 25 trauma cases are that of people below 18 years. Injuries in such cases are not just complicated but often medical staff dealing with general emergencies are not trained to cater to such patients, which is the reason why a separate paediatric emergency is required,” said Dr Verma.
The new trauma and emergency wing of the department of paediatric orthopaedics will have 20 beds, against the present 12 beds, two operating theatres where one for minor and another for major surgeries. At present, the trauma and emergency wing of the department is running in the trauma centre building, while the new and separate wing will come up in a new building to be built near the trauma centre.
“We are proposing the new emergency wing for paediatric trauma which will be dedicated to take care of injured children,” said vice-chancellor, KGMU, Prof Soniya Nityanand.
The paediatric orthopaedic department has 20 beds at present and soon it will be shifted to a new place adding 40 more beds. Collectively, the department and its emergency wing will then have 60 beds. The state has six crore children under the age of 18 years.
“In many countries, paediatric orthopaedic emergency wards are kept separate from routine emergency wings, and in India we are starting this concept for better care,” said Dr Verma.
“A major complication comes up if a child below 10 years of age is injured. They fail to explain correctly the injury or respond to queries regarding the injury. Here the role of a dedicated paediatric orthopaedic emergency team comes in, to understand the injury, and also ensure the child if in state of shock is attended psychologically too,” said Prof Ajai Singh, director AIIMS, Bhopal, and former head of paediatric orthopaedics at KGMU, who started the department at KGMU, the first in Uttar Pradesh.
