Commercial drivers to get trauma care, first-aid training

Kolkata: In a unique move to save people who receive injuries during any road accident, the Howrah City Police has decided to provide trauma care and first-aid training to drivers during its Road Safety Week.

In most cases, drivers of other vehicles passing through an accident site are the "first respondents" to attend and initiate rescue work besides informing the police.

According to a senior police officer, the chances of survival of an accident victim depends a lot on how the "first respondents" handle the situation and take precautions while taking the victim to the nearest hospital.

It is often found that an accident victim could survive if proper precautions are taken on the way to hospital. There were many cases in which drivers of passing by cars had taken accident victims to hospitals in absence of ambulances at that monent.

So, it would be fruitful if drivers of taxis, auto-rickshaw drivers and drivers of app cabs are trained with practical knowledge on trauma care and first-aid.

Since soon after an accident, police reach the spot and call ambulance to take victims to hospitals, drivers of ambulances and rank and file of the Howrah City Police will also be brought under the purview of the training programme on trauma

care and first-aid.

The Road Safety Week in Howrah will be a observed from January 17 to 24. As a part of it, the training programme will be provided on January 17 and 18. Experts from a private hospital will provide the training on trauma care while Red Cross Society will give classes on first-aid. The training programme will continue for three hours from 1 pm on both days.

Each day there will be a batch of 50 people. On the first day, a batch of policemen will undergo the training while on the next day drivers will undergo the same.

A senior police officer said they will get practical training on how to handle a victim when he has already received injuries on certain parts of their body.

They would get to learn as to what they have to do on an immediate basis if they find a victim bleeding profusely or if someone is in a traumatised state and can't even speak out though is in sense after the accident.

The officer said the training programme is going to start from the Road Safety Week but it will be continuing even after that to bring as many as possible drivers under the training programme.

It was found that mishandling of an accident victim with injuries results in his/her death sometimes. But it will be checked with such initiatives, said the officer adding that "the programme of creating awareness among people through the Safe Drive Save Life campaign will continue as well besides the training camps."

Like all the previous years, there will be announcements on important intersections to make people aware about road safety measures. The training programmes will also help in creating awareness as ultimate target is to bring down the number of accidents, the officer said.