Road safety and post accident trauma care
Every year, the lives of approximately 1,30,000 people are cut short as a result of road accidents in India . Approximately five times that number are seriously injured, disabled or disfigured for life. In the last decade, India lost 1.2 million people due to preventable road accidents. Every hour, 16 persons die on India’s roads making Indian roads the most dangerous in the world. According to the World Health Organisation half of the persons dying on the roads are vulnerable road users like pedestrians, cyclists and motor-cyclists.
The physical and mental trauma caused to the victims and their families as well as the financial burden caused to the families as a result of the loss or impairment of the breadwinner, are only too well known. Apart from the human tragedies associated with them, road accident-related injuries and fatalities also impose a huge burden on the nation through lost productivity and increased cost of health care and social security services.
It is important to note that most road accidents are avoidable and nearly 50% of the deaths on the road are preventable. Many lives could be saved if the injured persons are given simple but life-sustaining care within minutes of injury. Where no pre-hospital trauma care system exists, the first and most basic tier of a system can be established by teaching interested community members basic first aid techniques. These first responders can be taught to recognize an emergency, call for help and provide treatment until formally trained health-care personnel arrive to give additional care. It may be possible to identify particularly motivated or well-placed workers, such as public servants, taxi drivers, or community leaders, and train them to provide a more comprehensive level of pre-hospital care. With this level of training, these individuals can provide an acceptable level of trauma care while transporting an injured person to an appropriate health- care facility.
It is essential that any comprehensive action plan should include (i) effective enforcement of traffic safety laws and rules by the police (ii) Preparation and training of citizens in recognizing emergencies and providing pre-hospital emergency care and safe transportation (iii) A comprehensive policy involving better designing of road infrastructure incorporating road safety features, improving the safety features of vehicles, and legislation for stringent punishment of offenders and protection of good samaritans.
In a landmark order on March 4th, 2016, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India while hearing the case SaveLife Foundation (SLF) vs Union of India (WP 235/2012) has announced important guidelines to protect Good Samaritans who help injured persons on the road. This is significant because until now the States were treating these guidelines merely as advisory in nature, and this order now makes them binding on all States and Union Territories. Citizens are advised to visit www.goodsamaritanlaw.in to report any instance of harassment after helping an injured person.(http://goodsamaritanlaw.in/GazetteNotification.pdf) more
The physical and mental trauma caused to the victims and their families as well as the financial burden caused to the families as a result of the loss or impairment of the breadwinner, are only too well known. Apart from the human tragedies associated with them, road accident-related injuries and fatalities also impose a huge burden on the nation through lost productivity and increased cost of health care and social security services.
It is important to note that most road accidents are avoidable and nearly 50% of the deaths on the road are preventable. Many lives could be saved if the injured persons are given simple but life-sustaining care within minutes of injury. Where no pre-hospital trauma care system exists, the first and most basic tier of a system can be established by teaching interested community members basic first aid techniques. These first responders can be taught to recognize an emergency, call for help and provide treatment until formally trained health-care personnel arrive to give additional care. It may be possible to identify particularly motivated or well-placed workers, such as public servants, taxi drivers, or community leaders, and train them to provide a more comprehensive level of pre-hospital care. With this level of training, these individuals can provide an acceptable level of trauma care while transporting an injured person to an appropriate health- care facility.
It is essential that any comprehensive action plan should include (i) effective enforcement of traffic safety laws and rules by the police (ii) Preparation and training of citizens in recognizing emergencies and providing pre-hospital emergency care and safe transportation (iii) A comprehensive policy involving better designing of road infrastructure incorporating road safety features, improving the safety features of vehicles, and legislation for stringent punishment of offenders and protection of good samaritans.
In a landmark order on March 4th, 2016, the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India while hearing the case SaveLife Foundation (SLF) vs Union of India (WP 235/2012) has announced important guidelines to protect Good Samaritans who help injured persons on the road. This is significant because until now the States were treating these guidelines merely as advisory in nature, and this order now makes them binding on all States and Union Territories. Citizens are advised to visit www.goodsamaritanlaw.in to report any instance of harassment after helping an injured person.(http://goodsamaritanlaw.in/GazetteNotification.pdf) more
Viewed by 37
traffic is a big mess in Hyderabd and day by day in worsening.. I agree with Mr.Ravinder, RTO needs a big change. Nobody wants to follow traffic rules and to save few minutes people drive as they like, wrong side driving, breaking traffic signal has become fashion.. and worst part is jay walking, people are not aware of Zebra crossing, earlier request signals were installed for using to cross roads but nobody was aware... Police does lot of changes but dont educate, Please make foothpaths free, eduacte people of traffic rules, educate them to use zebra crossing... better make a trafiice class compulsory for every citizen be it for school students, business man, govt employee any body. every body must be aware of trafiic rules. more
Mar 26
Traffic accidents can be prevented to a large extent if the basic rules are followed and severe penalties levied against defaulters. It starts with the driving institutes and the RTOs. It is a known fact that one can easily get a license with bribes, regardless of whether the person can drive or not. The RTO officials conducting the tests needs to be severely penalized for accepting bribes in issuing licenses. A toll free telephone number must be prominently displayed in the RTOs for complaints. These officials may or may not be aware that they are indirectly responsible for the accidents/death on roads. The traffic police must be very strict in implementing the rules. Every day I notice that people are riding/driving in the opposite side of a one way road and the police do not take any action even if it is observed. The pedestrians and other drivers who follow the rules therefore need to look on both sides of a one way road. Speeding and impatience is another issue. Impatience by jumping traffic signals and 'me first' attitude also creates traffic jams. If people follow the traffic rules and are patient, many of these traffic blocks can be avoided. We feel ashamed when we observe that in many foreign countries how the drivers follow rules, are polite and understanding and making way for pedestrians, and wonder when will India emulate this. When the police are very strict in implementing the rules and are not corrupt, then definitely India too can be a safe place to drive. more
Mar 24
Well done! Expecting such rules for criminal activity reporting. If there are already please post the links. more
Mar 18
