The West Bengal Health Department is planning to set up cardiac centres in rural areas to provide initial treatment to patients suffering from heart attacks.

The main purpose of the project is to check the mortality rate of patients, particularly in rural regions, who have suffered cardiac arrests. Cardiac patients often become critical due to a delay in transporting them from far-off areas of the districts. Transporting a patient to the hospital is very crucial in case he is suffering a heart attack. If he/she can be put under proper medication, chances of survival become pretty high.

Keeping this in mind, the State Health Department is chalking out an elaborate plan to construct cardiac centres in the districts. A pilot project would be completed first in a few districts, based on whose feedback, the modalities for the state-wide launch would be finalised. Once these patients are given primary treatment in these primary cardiac care centres, they can be shifted to the nearby district hospital or sub-divisional hospital.