Imagine an accident on a highway. Typically, the victim(s,) will be bleeding profusely even as passersby or bystanders try their best to reach them to the nearest hospital or call for help.
Instead, had there been a ‘Good Samaritan’, armed with a pressure bandage kit and if he applies it to the victim, even before calling the 108 service, the injured have a very good chance of survival. More so in a State like Telangana where the response time of the 108 service is claimed to be 15 minutes.
Realising that the first-aid exercise and fast access to emergency services are the key to survival of road accident victims, GVK EMRI, which founded the 108 Service, will launch the pressure bandage facility on March 9.
The initiative aims to train a thousand community volunteers (Good Samaritans) including policemen, auto and drivers, road-users, roadside shops owners and road safety organisations. It will be started from the GVK EMRI Medchal campus.
Critical role-play
Every minute a road accident occurs and every four minutes a death due to such a mishap. Bleeding is the leading cause of death in most of these accidents, according to G V Ramana Rao, Director, Emergency Medicine Learning Centre (EMLC) & Research. He says bystanders can play a critical role in saving the lives of road accident victims. All that is required is training in applying the simple technique of pressure bandage when the bleeding is active.
The GVK EMRI has, in partnership with the government of Telangana, has been helping accident victims since 2005. It will launch the Active Bleeding Control(ABC) Project. It will focus on saving lives by educating bystanders on techniques to help stop severe bleeding.
The trained volunteers will be given Active Bleeding Control kits to apply the technique of pressure bandage.
The GVK EMRI has 334 ambulances and transports over 1,300 emergency patients to hospitals every day. In at least 200 cases, the Pressure Bandage technique would have helped immensely, including saving lives, says Ramana Rao.