THE STAR,
April 30 1998
Last July 18, a man and a
woman were found bruised and bloodied on the road in Jalan Damansara in
Petaling Jaya. They were apparent victim of a road accident.
Within minutes, a crowd had
gathered to gawk at the victims, in their 20s, who were lying several
meters from their fallen motorcycle.
Traffic was reduced to a
crawl on both sides of the road as motorists slowed down to satisfy their
morbid curiosity; some even got down from their vehicles for a closed
look.
In the crowd was a father
with three children tugging at his pants. Obviously they weren't enjoying
the spectacle like their dad was.
Two men claimed they saw
how the accident happened, and pronounced that the victims deserved their
fate, for flouting traffic rules.
"Is he dead?" "Who knocked
them down?" "Whose fault was it?" The crowd was anxious to know. "Must
been a hit-and-run," one guy volunteered. "Happens all the time," another
responded.
And so it went on, and all
this while, no one in the crowd went near the victims.
 |
| Before you cover an
accident victim with a raincoat or newspaper, it would help to check
the person's pulse. |
Finally, one tall man
walked over and covered the woman with his raincoat. A first-aider who
happened to be present asked him to check her pulse, so he did but
couldn't find any.
After much persuasion and
hollering, the first-aider managed to get several of the onlookers to help
the victims. Now that the people had started to get moving, they tried
to flag down passing cars.
From studies and scenes
staged like the one above, it was founded that 90% of people who gather
around accidents are of no use, and that it can take as long as an
hour before someone actually calls for an ambulance.
"People want to help,
but they are either ignorant or afraid of doing something
wrong," says K. Balasupramaniam, the association's founder and chairman.
|
 |
| Most of people want to
help at an accident scene, but are either ignorant of afraid of doing
something wrong, so they'd rather keep their distance. |
So Balasupramaniam
initiated a Road Rescue Riders programme that teaches the public basic
skills to help road victims, for he too almost became road statistics
once.
"It was a rainy day and I
was riding my bike behind a car," he recalls. "The car braked suddenly and
I couldn't stop in time."
Balasupramaniam's bike
crashed into the back of the car and he sailed through the rear windscreen
- his head landed on the back seat while his feet stuck out of the smashed
windscreen.
"A few cars stopped and
some guys dragged me out and put me on the roadside. They covered me
with a newspaper, placing rocks around it to hold it in place.
Balasupramaniam was
conscious of what was happening but was too weak to speak up.
people just stood around him and no one summoned an ambulance.
'Fortunately, a journalist
friend of mine came to my rescue. he saw me lying there and sent me to the
hospital."
Balasupramaniam reckons he
would have bled to death if it hadn't been for his friend, that's how the
Road Rescue Riders programme came into being so others wouldn't die
unnecessarily.
On the Road
The people who gather at any accident scene can be divided into four
groups, says Balasupramaniam.
"Firstly, those who are
willing to help but are unable, due to lack of knowledge. Most
of the time they crowd around the victim not realizing that he or she
needs room to breathe.
"Secondly, the motivators -
those who get the crowd organized, divide the work and get people to help out.
"Thirdly, the first-aiders
who are medically trained and are brave enough to give their
assistance.
"Finally, there are the
merchandised who capitalize on the situation: coffin sellers, florists,
people who buy four-digit numbers."
The first three groups are
the one Balasupramaniam is targeting. The four-hour course, to be
conducted by the association's members who are trained in first-aid, is
open to anyone above 16.
Balasupramaniam stresses
that the course teaches volunteers basic skills such as first-aid
and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques to help road
victims, pending the arrival of professional help.
"The Road Rescue Riders
programme is not a paramedic service," he says, adding that the
importance of calling for emergency services - ambulance, police, fire
department - as a first step would be drummed into course
participants.
The course teaches people
to use items found at the accident scene to aid the victim.
"You don't necessarily need
a complete first-aid kit to help victims. You can use material available
at the accident site." Balasupramaniam gave such examples as T-shirts
that can be fashioned into slings, shoes as collar bands to support
a broken collar bone, mineral water bottles as support for broken
arms, and umbrellas to support broken leg.
"People must not only be
taught how to drive carefully and take care of themselves, they must learn
to stop and assist others in trouble as well.
"There will come a time
when we all need the help of another. Can you imagine if no one stops to
help?"
Balasupramaniam says there
are procedures to observes when one helps out at he site of a road
accident.
"Those who wish to help
should park their vehicles in front of the accident site. By
parking behind the site, road users might cause another accident," he
says.
The next step is to reduce all possible hazards. This includes
switching off the
car engine and stopping all onlookers from smoking. The course
also teaches motorists how to disconnect car batteries, to prevent
sparks that may lead to an explosion should there be fuel leakage.
The course also offers tips
on avoiding road rage. "Use your hand and lips - when you overtake,
wave and smile at the other driver. Most times, even if the other
drive is irritated at being overtaken, he cools down upon seeing your
friendly gestures," says Balasupramaniam.
