PASSENGER CARE
1.General :
(i)Assistance to passengers and their relatives is of utmost importance in relieving them of some of their misery.
(ii)Injured passengers and their relatives are to be treated with utmost courtesy, concern and sympathy to alleviate their trauma and discomfort.
(iii)For dealing with relatives arriving from far flung corners of the country, staff fluent in the local language of the place from where the train originated should be used as interpreters.
(iv)Commercial supervisors & WLIs should be assigned to talk to injured passengers to ascertain from them whether they wish to call relatives.
(v)Injured passengers should thereafter be provided with either mobile or BSNL STD phones in order to enable them to speak to their relatives.
2.Hospitalization of the injured :
(i)General policy in case of railway accidents in which casualties occur is that of rapid evacuation to railway hospital after rendering immediate and necessary first-aid treatment.
(ii)In case there are no railway hospitals nearby, then they are to be admitted in the nearest Govt. hospitals.
(iii)In following cases, injured may be taken to a Private Hospital.
-When there is no railway or Govt. hospital available within a radius of say 8 kms. of the site of accident or,
-When the attending doctor certifies in writing that the treatment in private hospital is necessary in the interest of the patient.
-Except where railway doctor certifies, such injured passenger should normally be eligible to the lowest class of accommodation in private hospitals where different scales are available.
-Where the family of the injured person desires to be provided with a higher class accommodation, the family should give in writing to pay the extra cost involved directly to hospital authorities.
(iv)For this purpose, each division should make out a working arrangement with such private hospitals as may be necessary in areas served by them so that in an emergency injury cases can be referred to hospitals concerned without loss of time.
(v)To facilitate matters and to avoid misunderstandings, CMD should draw up a list of such private hospitals bearing in mind Railway and non-Railway hospitals in the vicinity.
(vi)CMD should also settle charges to be paid for such cases for each class of accommodation.
(vii)Bills by such private hospitals should be submitted through CMD who will certify the correctness of charges payable, before passing for payment by FA&CAO.
(viii)Payments to private hospitals under this para can be arranged locally by the Railways and Ministry of Railways approval is not necessary.
(Extract of Para 701(1) & Para 712 of Chapter VII of IRMM and Para 1421 of Indian Railway Establishment Manual and M.O.R�s letter No. MH 59/MES/96/Medical dt. 18/12/1959)
(ix)When injured are admitted in non-railway hospitals, railway doctors should be deputed to these hospitals to render necessary assistance, including supply of medicines as required which may not be available in these hospitals.
(x)They should also carefully monitor the condition of injured and maintain an updated list with all details.
(xi)If more than one hospital is involved, apart from deputing doctors to individual hospitals, a railway doctor should also be deputed to coordinate and maintain centralized updated position.
3.Facilities to be made available in hospital :
(i)There should be a separate reception counter manned by commercial supervisor or WLI at the entry to the hospital for dealing with relatives of patients who arrive.
(ii)A chart should be displayed at this reception counter indicating ward nos. where accident patients are admitted along with their names, coach no. wise.
(iii)At the entry to each such ward, a second list should display the name of the patient, coach no. and the bed no. inside the ward.
(iv)Commercial staff and WLI on duty at that hospital should carry a list indicating the name, address and telephone no. of relatives as given by the patient, and whether they have been informed or not.
(v)Arrangements should be made to inform the next of kin or a relative or friend of the deceased, in case identity of the person involved in accident becomes known.
(vi)As each relative arrives his name should be marked in the list against the passenger�s name.
(vii)Reception counter should be provided with BSNL telephone with STD facility.
(viii)There should be 2 mobile telephones for being taking to patients inside wards for making outgoing calls.
(ix)Complete medical care of all passengers including payment of medical bills till their final discharge should be provided.
4.Communication :
(i)STD equipped telephone should be made available to passengers to communicate with their relatives.
(ii)BSNL/Railway Telephones available at adjoining Stations/Cabins/Gates shall be extended to the accident site.
(iii)PCO telephones and other BSNL phones in nearby localities/villages/towns shall also be extended to the accident site by persuading owners of these phones.
(iv)Payments for such telephone connections will be made from station earnings.
(v)Sr. DSTE should hire few mobile phones to meet the need of stranded passengers, wherever cellular phone connectivity is available. Stranded passengers should be permitted to use these phones free of charge.
(vi)These cell phones should be used to convey information regarding the safety of passengers to their friends and relatives.
5.Arrival of relatives :
(i)After a few hours, next of kin of deceased and relatives of injured passengers start arriving at the accident site.
(ii)Adequate number of display boards should be available on ARMVs/ARTs for being put up at accident site.
(iii)By and large these display boards should indicate the direction towards the CAC.
(iv)These indication boards should be displayed near those areas where incoming relatives arrive and congregate.
(v)Periodic announcements on loud speakers should also be made for guiding them to the CAC.
(vi)CAC should have different counters for various purposes as detailed below in Section 8.
6.Taking care of relatives :
(i)At CAC, number of commercial supervisors & WLIs should be available for the purpose of taking arriving relatives to different hospitals etc.
(ii)After relatives arrive they should first of all go through the reservation charts and locate the name of the passenger.
(iii)Thereafter if details are available as to which hospital passenger has been admitted then commercial supervisor or WLI should accompany him to that hospital.
(iv)A hired vehicle should be provided for carrying them to various hospitals and mortuary.
(v)The commercial supervisor or WLI should stay with the relative until he has been able to either find the injured passenger or identify the dead body.
(vi)Thereafter, they should help him in completing all formalities in the CAC.
7.Single window clearance :
(i)CAC should have provision of single window clearance for all legal formalities & multiplicity of paper work.
(ii)Counters provided in CAC should have facilities for following items in the given sequence as indicated in Annexure � 3 :
(a)Reservation chart, for locating the name.
(b)List of dead and injured along with name of hospital. The name of passengers involved should be checked up from the list of dead or injured, if available, and their current status informed
(c)Counter for providing commercial supervisor or WLI as escort along with a vehicle, for accompanying the relative and going around to various hospitals or mortuary.
(d)Railway doctor for issue of Medical Death Certificate.
(e)Govt. doctor for issue of Post Mortem Clearance, in case the same is necessary.
(f)Municipality official for issue of Official Death Certificate.
(g)Local police for issue of authority for handing over of dead body.
(h)Claims counter - Payment of ex-gratia and issue of Claims Compensation Form.
(i)Counter for helping performance of last rites in case relatives decide to cremate the body there itself.
(j)Pass counter for issue of return journey pass.
(k)Return journey facilitation counter will make arrangements for return journey.
8.Stay of relatives of dead and injured :
(i)Commercial supervisor or WLI deputed with relatives should also arrange for their stay and accommodation.
(ii)Depending upon the need, accommodation in hotels/dharamshalas would be hired for accommodating passengers.
(iii)Arrangements should be made for their meals etc. Contract should be given for providing cooked food to relatives.
9.Performance of last rites :
(i)In many cases relatives decide to perform last rites at the place of accident itself instead of taking the body back to their native place.
(ii)This is mostly on account of :
-bodies being mutilated,
-bodies being in a state of decomposition,
-native place being far off,
-for overcoming logistic problems of taking the body back.
(iii)In such cases railways should render appropriate assistance to relatives for performing last rites.
(iv)Railways should locate :
-the nearest cremation or burial ground as the case may be.
-shopkeepers who supply necessary material for funeral rites.
-priest for performing the ceremony.
(v)The above information would be conveyed to relatives and transport provided for carrying the body.
(vi)Above duties are to be performed by Personnel department.
(vii)Commercial supervisor or WLI who has been deputed for relatives of a particular passenger should help them out in this endeavour.
10.Departure of relatives of dead and injured :
(i)CAC should have counters for helping relatives regarding their return journey.
(ii)Personnel branch staff at the CAC should be available for issuing complimentary passes for their return journey.
(iii)Reservation of berths should be provided on trains. Such reservation should be provided only from the accident site onwards.
(iv)Extra coaches should be attached to trains going to these destinations for the next 2 or 3 days. These extra coaches should be brought in locked condition from the originating station.
(v)Reserved space in luggage portion of SLRs for some of them to carry back bodies in coffins etc, in case they so desire.
