Srinagar: Kashmiri American Society of Healthcare, Medical Education and Research, (KASHMER) a nonprofit organization of physicians and allied healthcare personnel of Kashmiri origin in North America, plans to start an emergency medical services project in the valley.
The group is starting a pilot program in Srinagar with 2 critical care ambulances manned with paramedics/EMT personnel.
The control room or the central hub will be staffed by junior doctors to provide acute care enroute with triage to closest available emergency room, so as to reduce deaths of patients while transportation, which is very common in Kashmir.
Speaking to Free Press Kashmir, Dr. Nahida Nazir, who chairs the healthcare committee of KASHMER, said, “We have been operational for the past 3 years with our regulatory and structural obligations met in the Valley. Our most ambitious project for 2019 is the emergency medical services project. For this we have tied up with SAVE Heart Kashmir team along with our local partner HELP Foundation. This service is set to start end of July 2019.”
The project will be inaugurated at SKICC, Srinagar on July 18, 2019 by Mr. Atal Dulloo, IAS Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education department, along with Dr Omar Javed Shah, Director SKIMS.
Other invitees include Principal/Dean GMC, Dr. Parvaiz Shah, Director Health Services, Dr. Kunzes Dolma and Director General, Youth Services and Sports, Dr Saleem Ur Rahman.
“Emergency Medical Services is nonexistent in Kashmir. As of now, there is no robust or quality care EMS available in the valley. This has a huge healthcare impact in Kashmir. Significant delay in receiving emergency medical care as pre-hospital care is lacking results in high mortality and morbidity rate,” Nahida Nazir said.
The project will later be scaled up, and will ‘deliver high-quality ambulance service in Kashmir initially in parts of Srinagar city to gain experience and gauge popular response.’
These services will then be extended to the entire Srinagar district in different phases, as per the group.
