CBRN Medical Management Centre approved for Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences

VIMS to establish CBRN medical management centre for quick response to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear incidents.

A secondary-level chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) medical management centre will soon be set up at the Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) here. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard has been entered into by the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

“A one-and-a-half acre of land has been identified close to the lab and diagnostic centre on VIMS campus, for establishing the CBRN centre. We have ensured that the facility will have approach roads from all four sides for the easy movement of ambulances bringing patients. A lot of exercise has gone into the identification of the site,” Dr. K. Rambabu, Director of VIMS, told The Hindu on Monday.

“The facility will come in handy in the case of industrial accidents involving chemicals, gases, biological, radiological and nuclear fields. Our (VIMS) doctors have been trained at Kudankulam Nuclear Plant in Tamil Nadu in dealing with patients who sustain burns in nuclear fires,” he said.

“Once construction works starts, the medical management centre can be completed in six months’ time. The aim of this facility is to reduce delays in shifting of victims of these kinds of fires between different hospitals. This centre will be a single point of contact for all such fires,” Dr. Rambabu said.

It may be recalled that a joint State-Central team had inspected the site at VIMS in August 2024.