Road Traffic Digest No.

7
ln thls dlgest ue ul|| dlscuss about
some ground rea|ltles or resent status of
trauma care ln lndla esecla|| the attltude
of lndlan soclet touards road accldent
tlctlms.
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It is an irony that in India a severeIy injured road
accident victim Iying in a pooI of bIood may faiI to
attract the attention of even a singIe person among
commuters or spectators standing BARELY A FEW
FEET AWAY.
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n the contrary a struggIing human Iife 100 FEET DEEP
in a bore weII, may attract the attention of whoIe nation
and becomes a "Breaking News"
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we don't see a worse exampIe of discrepancy in
attitude of Indian society and of government [?media as
weII] towards struggIing human Iives in different
disasters.
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We are not against this 'rescue business for
'bore well tragedies' as human life no doubt is very
very precious, regardless of the resources or money
involved.
we just want to stress that 'EVERY
STRUGGLING HUMAN LIFE' is precious and aII
expect an equaI treatment in terms of attention,
resources, budget, etc.
That's aII !
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SimiIarIy, even a few who are injured during a terrorist
attack or communaI vioIence, get much better care or attention
so much so that even the top authorities feeI it extremeIy
essentiaI [or rather poIiticaIIy compeIIed] to visit the victims and
show their 'serious concern' .
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Just for information: In India
Deaths due to terrorism: 2/day
Deaths due to communal violence: 0.36/day
Deaths due to road accidents: 438/day !!
7hough in reality, this 'serious show of
concern', instead of helping victims, causes
more problems for the treating doctors who,
instead of giving actual treatment, are more
occupied in maintaining law and order and
providing medical bulletins to the media
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n the other hand, dozens of accident victims may
faiI to get attention of even the IocaI authorities and are
treated Iike orphans
EvidentIy,
Emphasis must shift.
any a times they may not
even be abIe to get a bed
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%hough a Iarge crowd gathers around the injured but
it is just out of curiosity to see 'how an injured Iooks Iike'
or to see if the victim is reIated to them or not !
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,
I

II
( %he poor or the affIuent?
2( %he more educated or Iess educated ?
one more question: Who has more sympathy with accident victims?
Let us find an answer - -
Instead of passing on every bIame to the government, the
so caIIed civiI society shouId aIso introspect!
Why have we become Iike this??
( In urban areas in majority of cases0%(, reIativeIy 'Iess weII
off" peopIe auto & taxi drivers, poor pedestrians, etc( have heIped
and shifted the victims to hospitaIs.
ResuIts of survey by WHO200( are very surprising:
[2_ 8imilarly on highways also more frequently the poor and
relatively less educated villagers have been found to be
more prompt
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Why is it that the weII off cIass does not sympathize with the
accident victims?
es, they may have a poor traffic sense BUT, generally
they are the first ones to rush to your help!
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`!` !I .I.!` ::
$ome of the answers from this 'uncaring cIass' are:
( LegaI hassIes? t least after supreme court's order, we should not
use this reason as cover
2( Busy? Have no time? Probably this class believes 'time is money"
3( Car seats may be spoiIed? Some of them love the materialistic
things more than humanity
Is it true that a better education onIy heIps us get better jobs &
more money and adds more anaIyticaI power to the brain for exampIe
to assess 'what probIems we may face in heIping such victims'( BU% does
not heIp to instiII more human vaIues in our minds/hearts?
$houId we beIieve that education makes our brains better at the cost of
our hearts? Or it makes us more practicaI and Iess emotionaI in making
day to day decisions.
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Brain: Logic
eart: Emotions
ake a bIend of the two!
PLcAsc ooN`T roLLow Youn miNo
ALwAYs. Somc Timcs iT is acTTcn To
roLLow Youn HcAnT.
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How to change the attitude of society? How to change the attitude of society?
[1] Victim is heIpIess BUT not necessariIy poor: He may be rich
and abIe to afford expensive treatment, but here he is totaIIy at
your mercy. The injured person inside a vehicIe or on the road
may be aIone and Iying unconscious and may not be in a
position to caII reIatives or use money.
..iocNTs Anc A HcALTH cmcnccN.Y wHcnc so.icTY HAs
THE GHETEST noLc TO PL As vi.Tims Anc ToTALLY
occNocNT oN Asscns aY.
HcAsoN aciNc:
[2] He needs some initiaI heIp just to start treatment: ne must
understand that once his reIatives arrive and take over he is not
going to become a IiabiIity . nce we shift the victim to hospitaI,
our invoIvement is over and the poIice is not supposed to make
any enquiry or statement.
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On the contrary, when peopIe cIose to us are invoIved in an
accident, often either we do not know or come to know very Iate.
%here is a horrifying possibiIity that a Ioved one might be struggIing
for his Iife and we may be compIeteIy unaware and comfortabIy
watching teIevision at home. We may regret this fact IifeIong that in
spite of being abIe to afford the best treatment in the worId, we
couId do nothing for him/her.
If someone cIose to us gets a heart attack or stroke etc. in front of
us at home, we promptIy rush him to hospitaI to ensure the best
medicaI aid. Even if he does not survive, we have the satisfaction
that we did aII we couId.
%hink about this reaI possibiIity!
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We are sure each of us has memories of terribIe
accidents invoIving some Ioved ones or acquaintances
that we feeI couId stiII have been with us, had they
received timeIy medicaI heIp.
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!Iease come forward to heIp such victims !
Don't think onIy a few peopIe cannot make a change !
Each one of us can!
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'ery soon others wiII foIIow you and - - -
- - very soon it wiII become a cuIture in society
to heIp such victims
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HeIping road accident victims is different
from other sociaI works
It is a 'GI'E AND %AKE'
kind of thing. %he fact is
that your contribution wiII
not onIy heIp others but
you yourseIf may require
such heIp at some point in
time.
It is a 'UNIDIREC%IONAL'
fIow of charity.
Like when you heIp someone for
some other type of charity or
sociaI work you never expect any
thing from him in return except
bIessings.
Other $ociaI Work
HeIping Accident 'ictims
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$ee how?
Nobody knows who wiII faII victim to road accidents next.
Even ''I!s, have Iost their Iives in road accidents. Who knows
whether at the time of accident you may be the victim or the
rescuer?
Don't think that this may never happen to you
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If you heIp someone here, then someone eIse may heIp you or
your kin at some other pIace some other time.
Remember, this couId be you Iying on the road and you couId
die because of someone eIse's apathy.
In today's worId aliyug( where peopIe do not care for their
own parents, can we expect that some moraI preaching wiII cause a
change in the attitude of society?
If it does make a change then weII and good. Otherwise, we
shouId aIso think of some more practicaI soIutions.
Considering the very poor trauma care in India, we feel there is
a tremendous scope for various charitable organizations to help
accident victims
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%his is a country
Where a millionaire can buy an IPL cricket team auctioned at 3300
crores within 3 minutes!
%his is a country
here a person lives in the most expensive
house of the world costing Rs 8000 crores!
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%his is a country
where the rich do not hesitate
to donate bags of gold and
jewellery for construction of a
temple. So much so that the
assets of some of the temples
are around 50,000 to 100,000
crores
- - and huge temples costing Rs 200-400 crores gets
ready within a few years
usT ron iNronmATioN: %he totaI number of pIaces of worship in India
24 Iakhs( is more than the combined number of schooIs, coIIeges and
hospitaIs. %empIe business is a very fast growing industry in our country !!
Rs. 200 crores donated
within 2 hours for a tempIe
construction.
'BeIIary king' donates a
goId crown of Rs. 45
crores to %irupati ji
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t would be much better if this class also comes forward for
construction of trauma hospitals.
Boilding hospituls is in no wuy less thun sponsoring u temple
We have to Iearn some better ways of worshipping God !
Earning the bIessings of God through serving crying heIpIess
humanity is true worship !
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#eason being that in India, even in DELHI it
takes 23 years for the government to start a
trauma centre [JPN Apex Trauma Center,
1984 to 2007 ]
nstead of waiting for the government to think and rethink and then
implement any firm policy as there is so much 'red tapism', it is better that
we ourselves come forward for trauma care in and around our city.
On the other hand Assembly complex
buildings get ready within one year !!
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W o mutter how strong und eIIective 'bills' get
pussed by the purliument, they cun't instill homun
vuloes in oor minds.
W So oltimutely, it is op to the people to shed their
uputhy towurds uccident victims.
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A( !resent status of AmbuIance $ervices in India
As compared to deveIoped countries where average response time is eight
minutes, in India, average response time is much Ionger. %hat is why 30-
35% victims die at crash site, 20-25% on the way to hospitaI (BR$I!!.
%hus, impIementation of the 'goIden hour' concept stiII appears a distant
goaI in India.
%he response time:
In India pizza arrives earIier than an ambuIance
%heir response time to the aIert caII shouId be Iike that of defense
personneI or commandos!
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%he Number of AmbuIances:
%he totaI number of ambuIances is Iess than 20,000 in our
country and they mainIy beIong to private hospitaIs or NGOs. At
present onIy 30% government hospitaIs have ambuIances.
%he Need or patient Ioad
Considering the present death rate due to road accidents as .6
Iakhs per year200(, there are around 24 Iakh injured peopIe
needing emergency heIp annuaIIy in road accidents aIone. However,
if we incIude aII trauma cases, about 50 Iakh injured peopIe expect
trauma care in India annuaIIy besides other medicaI emergencies(.
%he $ervice:
Even in metros having reIativeIy better heaIth care, onIy 4% of
victims are transported by an ambuIance. In India no one waits for
an ambuIance.
A severely bleeding trauma victim and delivery of a distressed baby are among the
few dire medical emergencies, where every minute or rather every second counts.
W orrently, only q% oI the umbolunce personnel huve been
Ioond to be properly truined Ior hundling truomu victims.
W Holf of the ombulonces seroe onlg os tronsport oehicles uith
onlg o drioer ond no poromedic stoff.
W t is reully sud to Iind thut the most onskilled stuII ure given the
job oI hundling the most delicute tusk!
%he %raining $tatus of AmbuIance team
$taff may not be knowing what is happening in the patient's cabin!
On the one hand the
government taIks of air
ambuIance services in and
around DeIhi - - -
While on the other hand, in
some rural areas people
still depend on 'bulloc
cart ambulances" !!
hich of these facts
is to be believed ?
buIIock cart ambuIance"
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Are we prepared to deaI with major disasters in cities?
!robabIy NO%
%here is no cIear-cut strategy or driII for the management of
such disasters. edicaI authorities in cities do not honestIy evaIuate
their capabiIity to handIe trauma care in terms of response time,
quaIity care in severe cases, and deaIing with a sudden Ioad of
victims.
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$ee how the victims of a disaster the most recent umbai bomb
bIast, JuIy, 20( are being taken to hospitaI. %hey were transported
in a mini truck Iike dead bodies(. If this is the status of umbai,
despite suffering many such disasters in the past, we can imagine
the pIight of smaII towns !
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AIarming Fact : A very high mortality rate even after reaching hospital:
It is true that deaths occurring at the spot or with in few
minutes are at present not under controI even in deveIoped countries.
However, it is very very sad to find that even in metro cities out of
totaI deaths, 48-64% victims die after hospitaI contact. %here is IittIe to
imagine about the conditions in smaIIer towns or ruraI areas.
$o even if you shift or transport the accident victim to
hospitaI in the best possibIe way, you cannot reIax thinking that now
things wouId move in order!
!resent status of Definitive care
%hus, response time and prehospital care are not the only
important factors determining good results, the quality of
definitive treatment at the hospital also has a bearing on survival.
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Wou hate recelted thls message from 'Tsunaml on Roads
Organltatlon' as a art of an auareness camalgn agalnst
road trafflc hatards. lf ou flnd merlt ln thls message, |ease
foruard lt to our contacts
Irom
Conscious Citizens, India
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