Overview
- A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A.S. Chandurkar issued the order Tuesday that recognised trauma care under Article 21 and gave Centre, states and UTs fixed deadlines for implementation.
- States and UTs must integrate existing emergency and ambulance numbers such as 100, 101, 102 and 108 into the single 112 helpline within three months and run mass‑media publicity to raise awareness.
- All registered ambulances must meet AIS‑125 standards, be fitted with GPS/VLTD and link in real time to 112, with periodic audits of response times, equipment and patient outcomes due within three months.
- The court ordered states to set up physical and digital Good Samaritan grievance cells and to operationalise the PM RAHAT cashless treatment scheme on a strict timetable, warning that failure could breach the Motor Vehicles Act.
- The Health Ministry must issue a trauma‑registry data format within eight weeks and states must link state registries to a Coordinated Trauma Registry within four months, with the court listing the matter for review after that period.