The increased awareness of internet and online media has brought in another new entry into Indian emergency medicine. The first online Journal of Emergency Medicine in India (JEMI) is now accessible at www.jemi.in

With an editorial board consisting of EM physicians both from India & abroad, JEMI aims to publish articles, reviews, case reports & series, clinical trials & investigations, etc. The journal will have bimonthly issues as per the website.
Although most of the site pages are still under construction, we believe that the team is working quickly towards completion of the website.

Incidentally, another online journal Journal for Emergencies, Trauma & Shock (JETS) published by the INDO-US Emergency & Trauma Collaborative has also been online for Indian viewers since 2008. Indo-US Trauma Collaborative(www.indusem.com) is joint academic effort between the University of South Florida, USA and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). JETS is focused on emergency medicine, traumatology & shock resuscitation.

The Journal for Emergencies, Trauma & Shock can be reached at www.onlinejets.org

Both JETS & JEMI are open access, which is a very good thing.
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GVK faces uphill task in resuscitating EMRI
Even as GVK takes over the beleaguered Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), analysts observe that the EMRI model has several operational loopholes that need to be looked into immediately in order to sustain the service in the country.

Read the full article in TIMES OF INDIA - 29 May 2009
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Study of Emergency Response Service in India - EMRI Model
A much discussed and successful public private partnership model for ERS (Emergency Response Service) is the 108 Emergency Service being managed and operationalised by EMRI (Emergency Management and Research Institute) in many states in India like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, and Rajasthan with around 1500 ambulances running. The 108 number in India aims to be equivalent to 911 of the United States. EMRI has been operational since August 2005.

The EMRI managed ERS in Andhra Pradesh has become a bench-mark for ERS in India and various other states are in the process of adopting the EMRI model. This had called for a review of the original EMRI model of Andhra Pradesh to draw lessons for designing ERS in other states in India.

The study on Emergency Response Services, with specific reference to the EMRI (Emergency Management & Research Institute) model in states like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, had been commissioned under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, in November 2008, at the request of Shri G.C. Chaturvedi (Additional Secretary and Mission Director). A team from the National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) is conducting this landmark analysis.

The aims of this study are divided in two parts

First Part (Overview Appraisal)
Interviews with EMRI, collection of key documents and analysis of data presented by EMRI to understand and recommend on utilisation, requirements, effectiveness and efficiency of operations, financing arrangements and governance mechanisms and institutional frameworks.

Second part
To undertake a sample study, using a small number of research teams, across three states with the purpose of
a. Validating data presented by EMRI.
b. Understand further on patterns of use, and equity issues.
c. Examine HR issues related to service delivery.
d. Look at quality of service delivery


The widely awaited findings of the first part have been made available by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.(mohfw.nic.in)

The full document can be viewed at
Study of Emergency Response Service (in India) - EMRI Model

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Project EMcounter, an initiative of Dr. Satchit Balsari from Newyork-Presbyterian Hospital, aims to document the distribution and characteristics of medical emergencies in the developing world via a web-based data collection tool.

The first results of this project have been published in the International Journal of Emergency Medicine (April 2008).
Click here to read the full article EMcounter-charting the epidemiology of medical emergencies in India: A status report at IJEM

The YouTube video shown here was created by EMcounter.

EMSIndia.in, the first website dedicated to Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in India is now online.

EMSIndia Magazine and its new website are initiatives of Dr. Subroto Das & his wife Sushmita, the founders of Lifeline Foundation (www.highwayrescue.org). This project, based in Vadodara Gujarat, is a non-governmental organization which has been promoting the awareness & establishment of EMS providers throughout the country since 2002.

Lifeline Foundation's major influence and effort can be seen on the highways of Gujarat state where they have set up a reliable EMS system not seen anywhere else in the country.

Their quarterly magazine EMS India is one of the widely circulated magazines related to Indian emergency medicine & EMS and has been around since March 2007.

An important point to note is that they are also working towards standardization of EMS systems in India, which is an extremely important step towards bringing high quality prehospital care to every individual in our country.

The website is found at www.emsindia.in
Lifeline Foundation is found at www.highwayrescue.org