Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
India

This Indian-American Surgeon Aims To Save Lives On Indian Roads

IANS, 20 Dec, 2015 01:02 PM
    An Indian-American surgeon is hoping to raise $25 million to train 1.5 million first responders - the first rescuers to arrive at an accident scene - in five years to prevent over 1,000 deaths on Indian roads every day that cost the nation $50 billion annually.
     
    Rajasthan University-educated surgeon Dr. Dinesh Vyas, an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at Michigan State University since 2011, has already trained over 4,000 first responders in India using a $200,000 simulator dummy.
     
    He is now leading a strong international multi-disciplinary team to India from December 26 to January 4, 2016 to win support for the programme from Indian auto, IT and healthcare industries by way of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
     
    "This programme will generate $5 billion business for auto, IT and healthcare industries and will save a lot of lives," Vyas told IANS in an interview.
     
    "Trauma and roadside epidemic is one of the biggest health concerns for India," he said. "Unfortunately, it has been neglected for a long time and with a three percent annual increase in deaths, we have more than 1,000 deaths everyday and 5,000 severe disabilities."
     
    Over the last eight years, Vyas' team has established five centres in Rajasthan which have trained 2,000 first responders in person and another 2,000 through an online course with the help of 200 trainers under its umbrella. Training 1.5 million first responders at 50 centres in the next five years would stall a three percent increase in mortality, he said. "Our next five-year goal will be to reduce the mortality to one percent annually, at par with any developed nation."
     
    The idea behind taking an international delegation to India, Vyas said, was "to address the trauma problem holistically".
     
    "We are concentrating systematically on all the aspects of trauma, to prevent a burden on the health system," with a focus on pre-hospital cae while simultaneously building a platform on prevention.
     
    The aim is to develop and build a contextual training programme in multiple aspects of trauma in various Indian languages starting with Hindi, Bengali and Telugu.
     
    The international delegation comes with major strengths in fields ranging from surgery and trauma and critical care to mass media and communication to health legal issues and highway engineering.
     
    The delegation includes faculty from US and Britain, with several endowed professors from Pittsburgh, Michigan State and other major universities.
     
    Dr. McSwain from Tulane University, one of Vyas' collaborators, developed in 1980 a four-tier system in the US that goes from online education to highly sophisticated trauma programmes for surgeons.
     
    "The technology we are using is not available even in most of the centres in the US at this time," Vyas said. "We are designing a programme that will eventually help even developed nations in building a cost efficient programme."
     
    To raise money for the programme, Vyas and his team are making presentations to various foundations and IT companies both in the US and India.
     
    During his visit to India, Vyas would be visiting Jodhpur, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Manipal, Bangalore, Karimnagar and New Delhi.
     
    He would be addressing, among others, the National Police Academy in Hyderabad and the Rajasthan Police Academy and meet officials and fellow professionals to gain support for his mission.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Cornered, Haryana CM Khattar Offers 'Regrets' On Beef Remarks

    Cornered, Haryana CM Khattar Offers 'Regrets' On Beef Remarks
    Khattar was quoted by an English daily on Friday as saying that "Muslims can continue to live in this country, but they will have to give up eating beef as the cow is an article of faith here".

    Cornered, Haryana CM Khattar Offers 'Regrets' On Beef Remarks

    Nand Bhardwaj, Leading Rajasthani And Hindi Writer Returns Sahitya Akademi Award

    Nand Bhardwaj, Leading Rajasthani And Hindi Writer Returns Sahitya Akademi Award
    In a letter addressed to Sahitya Akademi, Bhardwaj said: "There is growing concern among writers and intelligentsia against attacks and killing by hardline communal forces and the failure of Sahitya Akademi to stand up for them 

    Nand Bhardwaj, Leading Rajasthani And Hindi Writer Returns Sahitya Akademi Award

    Sacrilege Of Guru Granth Sahib:Tension In Punjab, Bandh After Kotkapura Firing Impacts Several Areas

    Sacrilege Of Guru Granth Sahib:Tension In Punjab, Bandh After Kotkapura Firing Impacts Several Areas
    At least two people were killed and nearly 70 injured, including police officials, on Wednesday in bloody clashes between police and Sikhs 

    Sacrilege Of Guru Granth Sahib:Tension In Punjab, Bandh After Kotkapura Firing Impacts Several Areas

    Punjab Announces Rs.1 Crore Reward For Information On Desecrators Of Guru Granth Sahib

    Badal, who is also the state home minister, said the information on the heinous incident should be passed on to Bathinda range deputy inspector general of police Ranbir Singh Khattra.

    Punjab Announces Rs.1 Crore Reward For Information On Desecrators Of Guru Granth Sahib

    Dadri Lynching Saddening, But How Is Centre Responsible: PM Modi

    Dadri Lynching Saddening, But How Is Centre Responsible: PM Modi
    The opposition is trying to accuse us of communalism, but aren't they, through the same process, playing the politics of polarisation

    Dadri Lynching Saddening, But How Is Centre Responsible: PM Modi

    Kotkapura Tense After Desecration Of 'Bir' Of Holy Guru Granth Sahib

    Kotkapura Tense After Desecration Of 'Bir' Of Holy Guru Granth Sahib
    Tension mounted in Kotkapura area on Monday after over 100 pages of the Sikh holy book were found scattered in a street near a gurdwara in Bargari village

    Kotkapura Tense After Desecration Of 'Bir' Of Holy Guru Granth Sahib