India, July 14 -- More than a century after it was established, Dr BYL Nair Hospital at Mumbai Central is set to become the first Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run hospital to have a dedicated disaster management ward, a first-of-its-kind facility designed to handle large-scale emergencies and mass casualties under one roof.

The facility, which will occupy an entire floor of the hospital's newly upgraded casualty block, is expected to become operational in about six months with an initial capacity of 21 beds. Unlike conventional emergency wards, the dedicated unit will be equipped to simultaneously manage multiple patients during major disasters while maintaining reserve stocks of medicines, equipment and other critical medica...