RailEnquiry

The two-day 19th annual conference of the Railway Forum of Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists (RFISA) was inaugurated in the city on Saturday. It is being held under the auspices of the Indian Railway Medical Service Association of the South Western Railways.As many as 37 anaesthesiologists from all over India are attending the conference which was inaugurated by P.S. Prasad, Director-General of the Railway Health Services.S. Rathod, RFISA president, felt that unless the cadre had an infusion of fresh talent, it was likely that operation theatres in some railway hospitals would close.“The scenario is changing fast because our colleagues are retiring and not many youngsters are entering the stream,” he said. Dr. Rathod underlined the imperatives of averting such a situation by encouraging youngsters to undergo PG in anaesthesiology on deputation. Dr. Prasad stressed the need to make the Railway Health Services “as attractive as the medical services” in the armed forces and said the government would encourage young doctors in the railway health services, to take up PG courses. The next three years would be critical as 120 to 130 professionals may quit the service; this means there will be 0.6 doctors per 1,000 people in the railways. In the deliberations that followed, specialists in anaesthesiology spoke about the recent developments which had a impact on major surgical procedures with near cent per cent success rate in patients’ safety.