Hospitals ordered to prepare for accidents at end of Thailand's Songkran

BANGKOK, April 15 (TNA) - Thai Public Health Minister Dr. Pradit Sintawanarong has ordered all hospitals nationwide, especially those located on or in the vicinity of main highways, to prepare for accidents which could happen during people's travels back to work after their reunion and celebrations with families in their hometowns for the annual Songkran or traditional Thai New Year festival, officially set from April 12-17 this year. Dr. Pradit told reporters on Monday he has made the instruction that all hospitals be on alert and prepare their medical units for serving patients in emergency, as a number of Songkran revelers are traveling back to work, in fears of more accidents during the last days of the traditional Thai New Year celebrations. Dr. Pradit emphasized that hospitals located on main highways, including Paholyothin, Asia , Mittrapap, Phetkasem and Sukhumvit , accounting for half of overall hospitals in Thailand, as well as those on the outskirts of Bangkok, to be particularly well-prepared around the clock for accident cases during the last days of the Songkran festival. According to the Thai health minister, the hospitals' preparations should include their deployment of doctors, nurses, medical equipment and emergency treatment units, to sufficiently serve patients in emergency cases and dispatch mobile medical units at provincial areas to take care of the Songkran revelers to save as many lives as possible. The public health minister acknowledged that during the past four days, about 15,000 emergency medical units have been deployed in areas across the country and have reached the scenes of accidents within 10 minutes, fully meeting his ministry's target, asking the public to also inform his ministry's rescue hotline, 1669, in case they come across any accident. Meanwhile, Dr. Pornthep Sirinarangsan, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Disease Control, said drinking and driving remains the main cause of accidents and deaths for this year's Songkran celebrations, noting that his ministry, the Excise Department and police have found 142 cases out of 272 to be in violations of the Thai Alcohol Beverage Control Act, with most illegal selling of alcohol cases, or 108 cases, detected in Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North.(TNA)