mumbai

Updated: Mar 08, 2018 13:55 IST

Commuters travelling on the Central Railways (CR) suburban network will now receive immediate medical aid during golden hour from railway personnel themselves.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is training the railway staff, to provide first aid services to passengers.

Those who will undergo the training will include ticket checker, station managers, and even the cleaners and shoeshine workers.

1019 CR staff, posted at various suburban railway stations, have already received training by the NDRF team.

The staff will trained to provide Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), and to treat bites, foreign body obstruction, soft tissue injury, poisoning, bleeding, burns and cuts.

The aid will also be provided to people who fall from crowded trains and require immediate medical assistance.

“The basic first aid treatment will help commuters during any medical emergency. We aim to train all the railway staff, which will prove to be a boon for people during golden hour,” said SK Jain, divisional railway manager, CR.

Lata Argade, Vice President, Railway Pravasi Mahasangh, said, “The move taken by the railways is welcome, as it was urgently needed. However, in case of accidents, the railways generally enlist the help of outsiders and not its own staff. The railways should use their own staff for assistance in such cases.”

Both the Central and Western Railways have introduced Emergency Medical Rooms (EMR) at a number of railway stations to assist commuters in need of immediate medical attention. Currently, the CR is constructing such rooms at the Sion, Vikroli, Panvel, Kalwa, Ulhasnagar, Bhandup and Diva railway stations.

One – rupee clinic to assist passengers have also been introduced at the suburban railway stations.