Common men turn life savers

Active Bleeding Control project by EMRI train citizens in effectively dealing with medical emergencies

Hyderabad: In order to make common citizens capable of effectively dealing with medical emergencies, the GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI) has embarked on a unique concept of training people like shopkeepers, drivers, toll plaza employees, police personnel and students in life-saving skills like preventing uncontrolled bleeding through different techniques, and giving CPR to individuals.

Dubbed as Active Bleeding Control (ABC) Project and Research, the EMRI has so far trained 1,004 individuals, creating a cadre of volunteers at the community level. The ABC training gains relevance in Telangana State, as it has a significant burden of road accident cases. According to a report titled ‘Road Accidents in India’, the State’s roads saw 22,230 accidents leaving 6,603 dead and 23,613 injured. Bleeding is said to be one of the leading causes of death in road mishaps.

“It is vital for everyone to be aware of the basic first aid methods to follow when someone has met with a road mishap. Therefore we came up with the ABC project under which we train common people in basic first aid methods. This will cut down deaths due to road accidents to some extent. The initiative is yielding a very good response,” says Dr GV Ramana Rao, Director of EMLC & Research, GVK EMRI.

The ABC volunteers will receive identification cards and stickers, which will help them with identification. The ABC kits along with bleeding controlling equipment are distributed to all the trained volunteers. Since 2018, the volunteers have saved the lives of nearly 30 accident victims. These were felicitated recently by the ABC team with mementos to encourage and motivate them towards saving more lives. This also helped in sustaining the active participation of the other volunteers as well.

Narsimha, a volunteer trained by ABC, saved the life of a 40-year-old woman, who met with a road accident. The victim was a pillion rider on the two-wheeler. This active bleeding control volunteer immediately swung into action and approached the victim. He identified that there was an active bleeding on the left thigh region. He also observed bleeding injuries on the forehead and right lower limb. He took immediate steps in controlling the bleeding by applying the direct bandage. Once the patient was stabilized, the volunteer shifted the victim to RR Hospital at Pet Basheerabad where she was admitted for further evaluation and management.

In another incident, the same auto driver saved the life of an accident victim, who fell from a bike after hitting the tree on Chermas road at Maisammaguda near DRS School. Narsimha observed that there was an open right tibia fracture and the bleeding was active. He took steps to control the bleeding without wasting time by applying the pressure bandage with available cloth.

GVK EMRI is seeking participation from more people, who just need to attend the 90 minutes training programme and learn the bleeding control technique practically by demonstrating on their co-participants.

 

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