Emergency dept of AIIMS Trauma Centre to become operational from Saturday

The emergency department of the AIIMS Trauma Centre will become operational from Saturday, 12 days after a massive blaze rendered the operation theatre complex non-functional.

According to Dr Amit Lathwal, the additional superintendent of AIIMS, three of five operation theatres (OT) located on the ground floor damaged in the fire, have been renovated and will become functional from Saturday.

"The causality will reopen tomorrow. Also, the OT on the first floor that was made operational after the incident will be available for urgent and minor cases till all the OTs become operational," he said.

Admission of patients to the emergency department of the AIIMS Trauma Centre here, the biggest such facility in the country, were suspended after a massive blaze on March 24 had damaged the operation theatres.

Several surgeries scheduled had to be postponed while an OT on the first floor, which was dismantled few months ago due to renovation work on the floor, was made operational to cater to the surgical needs of the admitted patients.

On an average, 25-30 emergency surgeries were performed at the five major operation theatres of the facility named Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre on a daily basis.

"New admissions had to be stopped because of the non-functional OT complex. Patients who suffer trauma injuries or accidents come here and are emergency cases, mostly requiring surgery," a doctor said.

The outpatient department of the facility was functional and the patients coming for follow-ups were being treated.

The emergency department of the hospital witnesses a footfall of an average 250-300 patients per day.