Emergency Medical Facilities At Railway Stations, Onboard Trains For Passengers

By Chanchal Mukherjee

New Delhi: Passengers travelling by trains are set to get strengthened emergency medical support at both railway stations and onboard.

Keeping passenger safety and well-being top priority, the railways will equip 279 stations and 177 passenger-carrying trains with medical kits and essential medicines. These facilities will be designed to provide immediate assistance in case of sudden illness or medical emergencies during travel.

The passengers will have quicker access to first-aid support, ensuring timely response and enhanced care, the railways said.

The health department will arrange for procurement of the required number of medical boxes that are to be provided at the originating stations. Each medical box will be carefully place in the power car, specifically in the TMR/ guard portion alongside the brake van equipment, a railway official said.

To ensure safety and accountability, the kit will be secured with a One Time Lock (OTL), following the same established system used for brake van equipment. The responsibility for the medical kit is to be rested with the Train Manager (TMR/Guard), who served as its custodian throughout the journey, the senior official explained.

According to the railways, as part of the duty, the train manager will verify that the OTL on the medical box is intact. This check will be conducted in the presence of the carriage and wagon (C&W) staff, regardless of whether the box is positioned in the front or rear power car. Once the train manager confirms the intactness of the lock, the C&W staff will proceed to secure the power car adjacent to the engine, thereby ensuring the continued safety of the medical box. After completing these formalities, the train manager will communicate to the Commercial Control that the medical box is available on the train is properly secured.

As per the provision, if any medical emergency arises involving any passenger during the journey, the onboard railway staff will act swiftly and in coordination. The Travelling Ticket Examiner, Train Superintendent or Train Manager immediately turns to the passenger reservation chart to identify whether any doctor or trained medical professional is travelling onboard who may be able to provide assistance using the available medical box.

As the same time, the Commercial Controller will be contacted to obtained details of such passenger, if available in the records. Upon identification, the relevant information is promptly conveyed to the Train Superintendent or TTE so that the medical professional can be approached without delay and necessary assistance will be arranged.

The railways further said that the personal details of doctors or medical professionals accessed from the reservation chart are treated with strict confidentially. Through this coordinated effort and responsible handling of information, the railway administration ensures timely medical aid while maintaining the privacy and dignity of passengers.

As per norms, once the medical box is opened on a train, it should be recouped by the medical department after receiving message from commercial control. For this purpose, a register is to be provided by health department in the medical kit along with other items to maintain the list of items used and recoupment made.

For the safety and quality control, the competent staff will ensure all equipment in the box is in working condition and regular inspection is done to monitor the functionality of equipment and drugs within expiry date. There will be a display list of items with expiry dates of drugs mentioned on it and those which are near expiry.

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