Brian is back with his June column on the importance of the public being trained in basic first aid and post-crash care in low and middle-income countries. In places where roads are less accessible and post-crash vehicles are less readily available, Brian argues that a community focused approach to being able to handle injuries in the first instance can dramatically save lives.

Congratulations to every one for #stayingsafe #walkingsafe #lsw during the #globaroadsafetyweek that focused on pedestrian safety! (Lots of Hash-tags!) This year’s Global Road Safety Week was the best! I have never felt this solidarity feeling before: that innate feeling of ‘Yeah, road safety is our concern!’ from all corners of the continent in Africa and the wider world! That’s exactly what we love to see; dignitaries, children, mothers, fathers, young people, celebrities – needless to mention, animals #WalkingforSafety! I loved it! How about you? In English, they say ‘Keep the candle burning’…me I say ‘Keep a keen eye on a burning candle’…if you know what I mean 😉

Emergency health care facilities in Africa are flooded with road traffic crash victims; and there are the ‘few lucky ones’, who are referred for a touch of professionalism in advanced hospitals. It doesn’t make me proud to write such a true statement this month of June, (which reminds me that Christmas is 6 months away :P) but I find solace in the naked truth that road traffic crashes are preventable, and even after a crash, deaths are preventable and the impact of injuries can be mitigated by timely and effective emergency care.

Now, what really occurs when a road traffic crash happens? The first people on the scene are community members who usually don’t have any form of prior formal training in first aid and emergency medicine. Considering that the response time for emergence medical services or the police in developing countries depends on whether it is raining, whether there is fuel in the response cars (if they exist), whether the road is accessible (of course due to unnecessary traffic jams or congestion), many deaths from injuries, bleeding and avoidable disabilities come into existence; things which would have been addressed if the community members were empowered with basic life saving knowledge and skills. 

According to WHO (2013) Global Road Safety Report,

While delivering the report, the current WHO director general Margaret Chan said, “Political will is needed at the highest level of government to ensure appropriate road safety legislation and stringent enforcement of laws by which we all need to abide.” “If this cannot be ensured, families and communities will continue to grieve, and health systems will continue to bear the brunt of injury and disability due to road traffic crashes.”

Many times, as implementing organizations, we are judged by the impact that we do: Our friend has done and published his evidence: Tiska MA, et al (2012) In Ghana most roadway casualties receive care and transport to the hospital from taxi, bus, or truck drivers. This study reports that control of external hemorrhage was quickly learnt and used appropriately by the drivers. Areas identified needing emphasis in future trainings included consistent use of universal precautions and protection of airways in unconscious persons using the recovery position.

Clearly, it’s possible for low income countries; prehospital trauma care for roadway casualties can be improved by training laypersons already involved in prehospital transport and care. Training should be locally devised, evidence based, educationally appropriate, and focus on practical demonstrations (as visible in the photos in the right column from Uganda Red Cross).

Quite often, we affiliate this ‘Prehospital care and crash stuff’ to medical people! I can tell you that’s not true (because I’ve never spent 6 years or so in medical school, rather 6 months of emergence medicine and prehospital skill training). In fact the Red Cross offers 1 day, 3 days, 5 days + courses on emergence health care and response…so you cant be excused really for saying, the courses are long! LOL.

Fact is, the post-crash phase is not only the job of emergency health care workers. The pre-crash phase is also incredibly important whereby road traffic engineers can play a vital role in facilitating access of emergency response teams to crash scenes, by designing emergency lanes or including messages on roadside information screens regarding the positions of emergency vehicles. Road incident management after a crash involves many disciplines, including traffic officials, the police, and the fire department and emergency health care workers. The safe, effective management of a crash scene allows speedy emergency care for the injured. The training of non-medical officials in elementary triage and basic life support would also improve communication between the disciplines and, often, speed up the provision of basic emergency care.

The ultimate goal of road safety is not merely crash prevention, but actually death and disability prevention. With this aim in mind, urgent action should be taken to improve post-crash responses and patient care because prehospital care and post crash care enjoy a husband-wife relationship in road safety in Africa. If we call upon our leaders to take action to improve road safety systems, we benefit all round!

So, exactly what are you waiting for? Get your certification or your organization thinking of certifying their staff, communities in basic life support! The next life to be saved may be YOURS! Oh, and wish me luck in participating in the 27th First Aid Convention Europe this June…hoping to learn as much as my head can take! Until next time #StaySafe

As part of the Second UN Global Road Safety Week a flashmob was organized in Syntagma Square, Greece and promoted the message “Stop Road Crashes”. The stunt was organized in Athens by the Hellenic Road Safety Institute (I.O.A.S) – RSI Panos Mylonas with the support of the European Comission and the European Youth Forum for Road Safety.

The event bought together a group of young people in the Square in Athens, Greece and the undergoing of a live, orchestrated dance to grab attention to the unexecpecting public.

What is a Flashmob?
A flash mob (or flashmob) is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment, satire, and artistic expression. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails.

In this case, the flashmob was organized to raise awareness of the United Nations Global Road Safety Week to raise awareness of the cause of pedestrian safety with the immediate audience in the square at the time but also leave a legacy of the event captured in a video.

IOAS thanked Mr. Fokas Evagelinos for the choreography and the teachers and the volunteers – students of his dance school who embraced the effort of RSI, our volunteers and all those who contributed to the achievement of the road safety flash mob. The also thanked George G. Mylonas and Iacovos Argyridis for the event song «Stamata» (stop running / slow down) being the soundtrack of the flash-mob.

The event was coordinated with the support of and with thanks to:

• the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection, the Road Traffic Police and the Road Traffic Police of Attica,
• the Municipality of Athens, the Municipal Police and the Administration of Cleaning — Recycling and Maintenance of the Mechanical Equipment,
• the Attica Perfecture, the Administration of Road Maintenance and Construction Works, • the Athens Urban Transport Organisation,
• the Ministry of Development, Infrastructure, Transport and Networks,
• Mr. Kostas Michalos of the SIMA SA for his contribution to the restoration of markings of pedestrian crossing,
• DIAGEO for its contribution to the program implementation,
• AXA insurance for the civil liability insurance of dancers and participants,
• the PUBLIC stores and McDonalds in Filellinon street and the cafe brasserie «Ethnikon» for their hospitality facilitating our volunteers,
• the Greek Scout Movement, the «Smile of the Child» for their volunteer presence,
• All the drivers, pedestrians and citizens who were present, supported and participated actively and enthusiastically in the successful realization of the event,
• The TV channels ANT-1, MEGA, NET, ALPHA, SKAI, STAR, the radio stations Alpha, Skai, Vima FM for the coverage and communication of the message of the event,
• our associates and representatives of the European Youth Forum and the European
• Commission for their trust and help to our work in the aim of RSI Panos Mylonas to prevent road crashes.

You can find more information about the organization that coordinated the flashnmob on their Facebook Page here.