By IANS,
Jammu : The Indian Army’s Northern Command is set to hold a medical conference on handling emergencies caused by counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been battling terrorism for the past 18 years.
The two-day conference will commence May 24 at the Command Hospital at the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, over 65 km north of here, an army spokesperson said Monday.
“More than 200 delegates, civilian and army doctors, are expected to take part in the deliberations,” he said.
Lt. Gen. P.C. Bhardwaj, General Officer Commanding in Chief of the Northern Command, and Lt. Gen. Yogendra Singh, Director General of the Armed Force Medical Services, will also address the conference, the official added.
The army has suffered more than 2,000 casualties in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, where terrorists have mounted a violent campaign since 1989. Over 40,000 people have been killed over the years.
The army hospitals across the state have so far handled the emergencies of its personnel and civilians during counter-insurgency operations.
Maj. Gen. D. Ganguly, an eminent cardio-thoracic surgeon and commandant of the Command Hospital at Udhampur, said the meet would focus on the “peculiarities of emergencies in an active counter-insurgency scenario and deliberate on the various prompt means to provide the best possible medical and surgical treatment”.
This is the first such medical conference being organised, the spokesperson quoted Ganguly as saying, adding that he hoped the conclusions of the meet would have far-reaching effects on the management of patients – whether surgical, medical or psychiatric.
The Command Hospital in Udhampur is the largest medical care hospital of the Northern Command and has super-speciality facilities. It is actively involved in managing all casualties in the command zone, the official said.