Emergency medicine in the New Delhi area, India

Abstract

An overview of emergency medical care in the New Delhi area is presented. Emergency medicine does not exist as an organized specialty, and emergency departments are staffed by a combination of residents and attending physicians from various specialties. An infrastructure for providing emergency care exists at all levels of the state-owned medical system, and in private hospitals. At every level, medical centers lack adequate resources to manage the breadth of clinical problems encountered. Tertiary EDs care for large numbers of patients with high-severity conditions. Like their Western counterparts, urban EDs in New Delhi serve a diverse population with many indigent patients. Injury and gastrointestinal illness are the most common reasons for ED use. Organized prehospital care is scanty. A survey conducted at a leading medical school and hospital in New Delhi shows medical students and physicians are highly interested in the development and practice of emergency medicine as a specialty. This interest can be nurtured through continued international collaboration.