Supreme Court Recognizes Trauma Care as a Fundamental Right
The Supreme Court of India has underscored the right to trauma care as an essential aspect of the right to life, as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution. This landmark decision was delivered by a bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar in the case of SaveLife Foundation vs. Union of India. The ruling mandates the establishment of a comprehensive and uniform road accident trauma care system throughout the nation.
Highlighting the urgency and critical nature of trauma care, the Supreme Court emphasized the life-saving potential of immediate medical intervention post-accident. The judgment poignantly remarked, “In situations requiring urgent trauma care, every minute without medical attention drastically reduces survival chances. Swiftness in response is, in essence, life-saving.”
Directions Issued for a Unified Trauma Care System
The judgment follows a petition filed by the non-governmental organization SaveLife Foundation, which sought directives for the integration of emergency helplines into a single access number, a standardized medical rescue protocol, good samaritan grievance mechanisms, and the operationalization of cashless treatment schemes for accident victims.
Recognizing the existing fragmented implementation of trauma care systems, the Court issued nine comprehensive directives:
- All States and Union Territories (UTs) must integrate emergency helplines, such as 100, 108, and others, into the unified helpline 112 within three months, along with public awareness campaigns.
- Functional Good Samaritan Grievance Redressal Systems should be established by States and UTs, complete with designated authorities and regular meetings documented online.
- The Union Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Road Transport and Highways are tasked with notifying a standardized trauma rescue protocol within three months, to be operationalized by States and UTs in the subsequent three months.
- Compliance with the Automotive Industry Standard-125 for ambulances, including mandatory GPS and real-time tracking integration, must be ensured.
- States should adopt the NCAHP-notified EMT curriculum for paramedics, as already stipulated by the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professionals.
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) is instructed to issue trauma data format guidelines within eight weeks, facilitating the creation of State Trauma Registries linked to a National Registry.
- Grading of medical facilities should extend beyond National Highways to include State Highways and urban areas.
- States and UTs are directed to complete hospital designations and engage with the PM RAHAT initiative, ensuring compliance with the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, within three months.
- Full operationalization of the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025, is required within three months for States and UTs not yet compliant.
The Court has instructed that the order be communicated to the Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, who must subsequently submit compliance reports. The progress of these directives will be reviewed in a hearing scheduled for four months from now.
Representing the Union of India was Attorney General R Venkataramani, while Senior Advocate Sidharth Luthra and advocate Malvika Kapila appeared on behalf of the petitioners.
