Jamshedpur, May 11: Better late than never.

The East Singhbhum district transport department has finally woken up to the long-standing plea of setting up trauma centres on NH-33 between Jamshedpur and Ranchi.

The state government had already taken a policy decision for setting up trauma centres on important stretches of NH-33, a project that has been pending for the past two years. The transport department is going to translate the proposal into a reality soon.

After implementation of the project, travelling on the accident-prone highway is expected to become much safer.

District transport officer Srivendu Kumar Singh said the trauma centres would be set up to provide quick medical relief to accident victims. He added that the concept of trauma centres, borrowed from mobile hospitals, was best suited for NH-33. “Trauma centres would be set up every 25km so that medical attention could be given to accident victims in minimum possible time. Trained paramedical staff would man each trauma centre, which would have telephones and ambulances. The ambulances would have the infrastructure of a mini hospital.”

The paramedics would be trained in providing first-aid to a mishap victim and putting a critically injured victim on oxygen. Stress would be laid on exactly how the victim may be taken to a hospital fast without making him bleed much.

Officials of the transport department said the stretch between the Jamshedpur and Ranchi was one of the busiest routes in the state and witnessed heavy traffic. The stretch between the two cities also registers the maximum number of road mishaps, resulting in frequent deaths.

On several occasions, accident victims have to keep lying unattended at the spot of accident for hours together and even die without receiving even first-aid.

If the mishap occurs during the day, chances of the victims being rescued are better. If the accident happens at night, chances of the victim being rescued are bleak. The accident victim might get help from the police patrol, otherwise he would have to wait for hours to get any sort of medical relief.

On an average, 10 accidents occur between Ranchi and Jamshedpur daily, in which at least two persons die. Not necessarily that an injured person dies on the spot. In most of the cases, it has been observed that accident victims sustaining injuries in vital parts of the body succumb in the hospital some days after the mishap.

“We are serious on setting up the trauma centres on NH-33, especially between Ranchi and Jamshedpur to ensure that people can travel safely. Moreover, when trauma centres are present on important stretches of other national highways in Bengal and Orissa, then why should Jharkhand lag behind at a time when the state government has adopted a policy for setting up such trauma centres,” said Singh.

He added that the department would shortly earmark the spots for setting up the trauma centres.