National Burns Centre (NBC) is a holistic specialized centre of excellence for prevention, treatment, training, rehabilitation and research, relating to Burns. It was commissioned on 5th October 2001 by the Indian Burns Research Society.
Every 3 months, NBC conducts a camp named “Operation Restore” through which free surgeries are provided for the Burns patient. This was their 21st such camp. It was a 4 day event which took place from 25th July 2019 – 28th July 2019. A group of 31 volunteers from Switch India were divided into 4 teams who visited the NBC over these 4 days.
12 surgeries in total were shown to our volunteers. The students reached there by 10 am. After a short introduction, they were given a tour of the NBC. Firstly, they were shown the Skin Bank, where they were explained the whole procedure of how the skin is taken and stored and also safety testing of the skin.
They were shown all the instruments necessary for the same. After that, they were shown the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) which had a specific room for individual patients there. The students were then shown the ward which was specifically in use for Operation Restore.
The Students were then taken to see the physiotherapy department there where they were given an overview about the rehabilitation that is needed post surgery.
After this, the students were divided into 2 groups, one was sent to the OT to see the surgeries while the other group went to the wards to interact with the pre as well as post surgery patients. In the OT, the students were addressed by Dr. Keswani, Medical Director, NBC.
He explained to them the whole ideology behind Operation Restore. The students were shown different surgeries which included release of contracture, skin grafting, K – wire fixation, splinting and many more.
The group of students switched between the operation theatres to capture as much information and knowledge as they could. The surgeons explained everything that was important to know to our keen students.
After spending a satisfactory amount of time, the two groups interchanged their places. In the wards, the students interacted with the pre and post surgery patients. After all the events had ended on a successful note, the students took a group picture at the NBC.
The students returned home on a positive note and full of knowledge that they had acquired that day and also increased sense of responsibility as doctors. Kudos to Switch India for giving this one-of-a-kind experience to its members and helping them explore new horizons and enlightening them.
