Telangana govt to curb accident fatalities

The government has decided to give first respondent training to TSRTC bus drivers and conductors, auto rickshaw drivers and those who travel regularly in accident-prone areas

Hyderabad: As part of its efforts to minimise fatalities in road accidents, the State government is coming up with a series of short-term measures to ensure proper treatment to victims during the ‘Golden Hour’ and save previous lives.

Towards this, the government has decided to give first respondent training to TSRTC bus drivers and conductors, auto rickshaw drivers and those who travel regularly in accident-prone areas to strengthen the mechanism of providing treatment to the injured immediately after the accident. These persons will also be given certificates after the training programme.

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These certified first responders will come to the rescue of the injured and give treatment during the Golden Hour by the time an ambulance reaches the spot. This will also help in increasing chances of survival and reduce the severity of injuries.

“It takes at least half an hour for an ambulance to reach the spot from mandal headquarters if an accident takes place in a village. By the time an ambulance reaches the spot, the first responders can give treatment to the injured,” an official told Telangana Today.

The decision to train first responders was taken during a high-level meeting convened by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar a few days ago. Senior officials from the Police, Roads and Buildings (R&B), Panchayat Raj and Transport departments attended the meeting to discuss the modalities to be adopted to prevent accidents.

The official said frequent travellers at accident-prone areas and other black-spots on the highways and other district roads would be identified to train them as first responders. “Training lakhs of people as first responders is a huge task but it will help in saving precious lives,” he said.

For every 100 road accidents in the State, 32 deaths were reported and with the implementation of the short-term measures, the administration wants to bring down the deaths to 29.

An action plan is also being chalked out to integrate helpline numbers – dial 100 (police), 108 (emergency ambulance service) and 1033 National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)) for better coordination during an accident, the official said, adding that the entire exercise was aimed at minimising fatalities.

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