KARMA 4th Anniversary

05 Mar, 2016
Medica’s award winning CSR Initiative KARMA (Kolkata Accident Response & Medical Assistance), celebrated its 4th Anniversary on 5th March 2016. Present for the occasion were dignitaries Shri V. Solomon Nesakumar, IPS Dy. Commissioner of Police (I), Traffic Department, and Mr. Kalyan Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Traffic) along with other dignitaries and staff of the Kolkata Police Traffic Department.

4 years back when Kolkata Police wanted to partner with a hospital to run their trauma care services, Medica was the only one to take up the entire responsibility of 18 ambulances, which are stationed at accident-prone areas. Thus was born ‘Kolkata Accident Response & Medical Assistance’, a unique Public-Private partnership. Upon receiving a call at the Medica KARMA Command Centre, the nearest ambulance reaches a trauma victim in a matter of minutes. Time being of essence, patients are transported to the nearest hospital. In the 4 years of its existence, KARMA has received about 12,000 calls, out of which around 10,000 patients have been transported to various hospitals. Only about 20 have come to Medica! This one-of-a-kind service has helped to save many lives!

The 4th Anniversary ceremony started on the beautifully manicured grounds of the hospital with the dignitaries interacting with the KARMA Emergency Medical Technician Team, KARMA Ambulance Drivers and the management of Medica Group of Hospitals. The programme continued in the 3rd floor conference hall of the hospital where Ms. Manjula Singh, Honorary Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility – Medica, inaugurated the event. She introduced project KARMA and talked about its journey and achievements in the last 4 years.

Dr. Kunal Sarkar, Sr. Consultant Cardiac Surgeon & Vice Chairman – Medica, Dr. Dilip Kumar Pahari, Director – Medica Institute of Kidney Diseases & Vice Chairman – Medica, and Dr. Vikash Kapoor, Group Director – Medica Institute of Orthopaedic Sciences, each addressed the august gathering and congratulated the entire team of KARMA and appreciated the Kolkata Police Traffic department for jointly creating this unique medical CSR model where healthcare can be taken out on the streets from the hospital to those who need it the most, the road traffic accident victims.

Chief Guest Shri V. Solomon Nesakumar, IPS Dy. Commissioner of Police (I), Traffic Department spoke next, applauding the project and the entire team for the noble initiative taken up by Medica and promised his support in providing all that is required for KARMA to become more effective and to expand its operations in future.

As a part of the 4th anniversary celebration, a series of special awards were given out to some of the Star performers. While Mr. Choton Das & Mr. Nabin Das won the Best EMT awards, Appreciation Award for the longest contribution to KARMA went to EME Ms. Sriparna Nath. The Best Driver and the Best Housekeeping awards were bagged by Mr. Samir Beshra and Mr. Samir Roy & Mr. Bilash Kunda respectively.

The programme ended with Mr. Sudeep Bhattacharjee, Regional Emergency Medical Service Administrator, formally presenting the vote of thanks to the dignitaries and all present, inviting them for fellowship over tea and refreshments.