Nearly 550 road traffic accident victims got emergency treatment during the golden hour under the State government’s cashless ‘accident victims scheme’ since its launch in April last year.
To provide emergency medical treatment to road accident victims on similar lines as the erstwhile Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Yojana (MSHY), the State government launched this scheme on April 8 last year.
Under the scheme, immediate and cashless medical support and treatment is being provided to road accident victims free of cost during the golden hour (one hour from the time of accident) up to 48 hours from the time of accident.
An accident victim is eligible for treatment up to a maximum amount of ₹1,00,000 per victim per episode. All victims who meet with accidents on roads within Karnataka, irrespective of BPL/APL status, are eligible for treatment under this scheme.
The MSHY, which was launched in 2016, was named after Harish Nanjappa, who had expressed his desire to donate his eyes moments before his death.
This scheme, which provided treatment up to ₹25,000 for the first 48 hours after the accident, was later merged along with six other schemes when Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) was launched in 2018.
More hospitals to join
State Health Commissioner Randeep D. told The Hindu that the ‘Accident Victims scheme’ would be further strengthened by empanelling more hospitals along the accident hotspots and taking up first responder training.
The Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), the nodal agency that is implementing this scheme along with other health schemes, has so far reimbursed ₹91.5 lakh to 25 empanelled hospitals where these 550 victims have received treatment, he said.
“About 200 of the 550 cases were emergency/tertiary procedures involving grievous injuries (such as head and chest injuries), which were life-saving thereby providing timely intervention to the victims. As providing emergency treatment in the golden hour is the crux of this scheme, it necessitates mapping of more hospitals for timely intervention. As of now, 2,955 public and 514 private hospitals are empanelled under the scheme,” he said.
Asserting that inclusion of non-empanelled hospitals is vital to provide better coverage of the scheme, the Commissioner said the Stage 2 implementation of the scheme would encompass empanelment of all major tertiary care hospitals along the accident hotspots on highways across the State.
“We will be forced to issue directives under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Amendment Act, 2007 for non-compliant hospitals,” the Commissioner asserted.
RASTHA project
Early this year, the Health department launched a ‘Rapid Response, Assessment, Stabilisation and Safe Transport in Highway Accidents’ (RASTHA) project to establish a network of trained and skilled first responders across Karnataka highways to enable quick emergency response.
“Under RASTHA we have trained first responders who will help stabilise patients at the accident site, inform 108 ambulances and help in informing relatives. Once accident victims reach hospitals, the cashless accident victims scheme will kick in for easy admission and free treatment for the first 48 hours,” Mr. Randeep added.
