The Supreme Court has ruled that trauma care forms an integral part of the right to life under Article 21, and where the Union has already evolved a policy framework but implementation by States and UTs is fragmented, the Supreme Court may issue time-bound interim directions to secure progressive and effective realization of that right through coordinated compliance measures.
On this basis, the Apex Court directed all States and UTs, within specified timelines, to integrate emergency helplines into 112, establish Good Samaritan grievance redressal systems, ensure AIS-125 compliance and GPS/VLTD integration for ambulances, adopt the notified EMT curriculum, establish trauma registries, grade medical facilities, operationalize the PM RAHAT scheme, and undertake structured public awareness campaigns. It also permitted the Union to issue a medical rescue protocol and required compliance reporting to the Court.
A Two-Judge Bench comprising Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Atul S. Chandurkar observed that when a person suffers an accident requiring urgent trauma care, every minute spent without medical intervention significantly narrows the scope for survival, and that swiftness is “quite literally, like medicine.” It noted that trauma care involves multiple stages, including initial response and first aid, transportation of the victim, and immediate post-hospitalization care, and therefore requires a bottom-up mechanism involving various stakeholders.
The Bench further observed that bystanders often hesitate to help due to fear of legal proceedings or the psychological weight of the situation, and that these barriers require systemic intervention, public awareness, standardization of first aid skills, and proper Good Samaritan laws, since the right to trauma care is an integral part of the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
The Bench also recorded the submission of the Attorney General that while the Union has laid down a national framework through schemes, rules and policies such as PM RAHAT, Rah-Veer Scheme, the Good Samaritan Rules, National Ambulance Code, NELS Curriculum, ERSS-112 and trauma guidelines, implementation remains scanty and fragmented across States and UTs.
Upon considering the Union’s compliance affidavit and the responses of 34 States and UTs, the Bench found that although there was willingness to progressively implement the Union’s schemes and policies, the status of implementation differed across jurisdictions. It therefore emphasized that sustained and concerted efforts by the Union and the States/UTs working in unison are necessary to build a uniform trauma care system throughout the country.
Briefly, the petition under Article 32 was filed by Savelife Foundation seeking directions to the Union of India and the States/UTs to strengthen the national trauma care and emergency response framework in road accident cases. The prayers included integration of all emergency and ambulance helplines into 112, creation of a grievance redressal system for Good Samaritans, formulation of a medical rescue protocol, enforcement of the National Ambulance Code, training and accreditation of paramedics and EMTs, GPS-enabled ambulance tracking, establishment of trauma registries, grading of medical facilities, framing of cashless treatment schemes for road crash victims, and public awareness campaigns. The petitioners placed reliance on reports and empirical data to contend that a major cause of fatalities in traumatic events is the lack of quick emergency and trauma care, and urged recognition of trauma care as a matter of right in the Indian public law system.
