New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed a uniform trauma care policy to be adopted across the country within three months.
States and Union Territories have been mandated to adopt a common helpline for trauma victims, publicise protection to Good Samaritans who inform about an accident, and roll out a medical rescue protocol in emergency cases.
The bench of Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice A S Chandurkar said, “What is required is a systemic intervention, creation of a uniform framework for trauma care, building public awareness, standardization of first aid skills and proper Good Samaritan laws; since right to trauma care of citizens is an integral part of right to life enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
The Court passed these directions after hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Savelife Foundation that quoted National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figures to show how trauma is a major killer. NCRB 2024 data said that out of 467,000 persons with traumatic or accidental deaths, 177,000 were attributable to road accident fatalities.
“A uniform and robust system of trauma care, steps towards its progressive realization, and increasing public awareness are well-intentioned and may turn out to be absolutely critical in reducing preventable deaths,” the bench said, as it directed all states and UTs to integrate their police, fire, ambulance service, and other common helpline mechanisms to one common helpline number ‘112’.
This universal access number was proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), under its Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) project, as the single emergency response number for emergency assistance from police, fire department, health and other services. However, since public health, hospitals, ambulance services, police and public order fall within the State List and not within the Union List of the Constitution of India, a direction by the court alone could ensure uniform implementation of these measures, as reported by Hindustan Times.
“Sustained and concerted efforts by both the Union and the States/UTs working in unison can certainly result in a uniform trauma care system throughout the country which is both efficient and effective,” the bench said, as it posted the matter after four months for states, UTs and Centre to report compliance.
Bystanders who witness any accident need not remember multiple helplines for police, ambulance or other services, thus preventing delay in providing immediate help to road accident victims, once the common helpline gets implemented.
The Court noted that time is of essence in such situations as senior advocate Siddharth Luthra appearing alongwith advocate Malvika Kapila for the petitioner organisation stated that reports by statutory authorities have shown that 50% of road accident fatalities can be prevented with immediate medical care.
“When a person suffers an accident or any such similar incident which requires urgent trauma care, they usually feel shock and disorientation, a sense of helplessness, where they have to hope that those around them would somehow help them get the care that they need. In such a situation, every minute spent without medical intervention or urgent care significantly narrows the scope for survival. Swiftness, is quite literally, like medicine,” the Court observed.
It is the bystander who has to get the victim to the hospital. Although section 134A of the Motor Vehicles Act was introduced to protect such “Good Samaritans”, the court noted the hesitation in the minds of the common man who suffers a “reactive paralysis” due to fear of court proceedings, police harassment, or simply the psychological weight of the situation.
“A robust mechanism for trauma care, therefore, must take a bottom-up approach, which accounts for various stakeholders,” the bench said, directing the states and UTs to establish functional (physical and digital) Good Samaritan Grievance Redressal Systems with designated nodal authorities at state and district level within three months.
The Court noted that the next step in the “bottom-up” approach was the role of ambulances, hospitals and medical care professionals. As states and UTs informed the court about their willingness to implement any uniform protocol, the Union government was directed to issue a “medical rescue protocol for trauma cases” within three months, with a further direction for all states/UTs to operationalize it in the following three months
To ensure ambulances reach on time and the best possible hospital can be accessed at the earliest, the states and UTs were told to ensure all registered ambulances (public and private) have mandatory Global Positioning System (GPS), Vehicle Location Tracking Device (VLTD) fitment and real-time integration with helpline 112.
Emergency medical training has been integrated in their curriculum, te National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professionals (NCAHP) informed the court. The bench then granted three months for integrating this curriculum with all training institutions and certified personnel.
Attorney General R Venkataramani, who assisted in the matter on behalf of the Centre, referred to various cashless treatment schemes of the Central government that could be availed by victims of road accidents, provided the states adopt it.
One such scheme is the PM-RAHAT scheme, which is yet to be operationalised by some state governments, Venkataramani said. The court granted eight weeks for operationalising this scheme throughout the country.
The state and UT governments were directed to publicise these directions to ensure citizens are made aware to avail these facilities in case of any emergency. In addition, the directions issued also include a common data format for recording a Trauma Registry. Linking it to a Coordinated Trauma Registry within four months, and grading of hospitals and medical institutions to ensure patients receive the best possible medical assistance in the presence of well-trained and certified emergency medical professionals.
