Hospitals prepare for emergencies; AIIMS, others cancel leave

Hospitals across India are readying for emergencies that may arise due to the heightened India-Pakistan tensions.

- SANKET KOUL

The Union health ministry on Friday held a high-level review meeting to assess the preparedness.

At the meeting, Union Health Minister JP Nadda directed all states to ensure that medical emergency response health systems were adequately equipped and functional at all times. He was emphatic about ground level linkages with state governments at the district level for immediate emergency health care.

While Centre-run hospitals have started undertaking mock drills and training programmes for essential staff and doctors, private facilities too have activated their emergency preparedness protocols.

A spokesperson for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, said a mass casualty management mock drill was conducted at the facility. AIIMS also confirmed that leave of all doctors and essential staff had been cancelled. Other Central government hospitals and health facilities would follow a similar drill. New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have also ordered their employees not to go on leave in view of the current situation.