Reducing fatalities and severe injuries from road accidents and bombings is a priority in a country where emergency ambulance services are inadequate, particularly in rural areas.
In response, UN Development Programme (UNDP) is funding a project to provide first-aid training to Sri Lankan policemen. Overall, the project targets some 10,000 people in the capital and the provinces, including schoolchildren and drivers of three-wheel scooter taxis, and is being undertaken with the National Civil Defence Coordination Committee and the Disaster Management Centre.
At least six Sri Lankans are killed every day in road accidents, a figure that has been rising annually.
According to official data, 2,409 people died in road accidents in 2007, while 25,623 people, most between 26 and 30, sustained injuries. Recorded figures show a 69 percent increase from 1995 when the death toll stood at 1,681.
Put more graphically, according to the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition's Trauma Secretariat, on average at least one person dies in a road accident every four-and-a half-hours in Sri Lanka.
Police to the rescue
The capital, Colombo, has a fully fledged ambulance service, but in other towns accident victims have to rely on the assistance of the police and passers-by to rush them to the nearest hospital.
"We have seen that policemen and three-wheeler drivers are usually the first to respond when an accident occurs," said Ramitha Wijethunga, UNDP national programme officer for disaster management. But, he added, unskilled attempts to help in an accident often aggravated injuries, sometimes causing death.
By providing elementary pre-hospital medical training, UNDP aims to enhance the ability of the police and the general public to respond more effectively to road accidents, bombings and other trauma.
Health professionals too have expressed concern that injuries caused by bomb blasts and traffic accidents are aggravated by improper handling.
At a recent training programme for policemen attached to the community police unit in Colombo, instructors from St John Ambulance demonstrated how an accident victim should be checked for injuries and head, neck and back stabilised if spinal injury was suspected.
"We had very basic first-aid training given to us when we joined the police force," said Nuwan Bandara, one of the participants. "Here, we learn so many additional techniques, things we were not aware of before."
Fellow policeman Asanka Dissanayake recounted how a person held in a police station had had convulsions and only one officer knew how to safeguard the patient until the seizure stopped.
"This type of training gives us the confidence to handle a medical emergency," he said. His only regret was that the workshop was only one day, not enough time to learn all the procedures. However, the Police Department planned to select those officers who demonstrated an aptitude for advanced emergency medical training. Ninety police officers have received the first-aid training so far.
The UNDP police project is part of a broader initiative that has been providing first-aid skills to three-wheeler drivers in Colombo, and expects to train scooter taxi drivers in the provinces in the months to come. So far, some 800 drivers have been trained. Many accident victims are transported to hospital crammed in the back of tuk-tuks, often increasing the risk of additional injury.
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In response, UN Development Programme (UNDP) is funding a project to provide first-aid training to Sri Lankan policemen. Overall, the project targets some 10,000 people in the capital and the provinces, including schoolchildren and drivers of three-wheel scooter taxis, and is being undertaken with the National Civil Defence Coordination Committee and the Disaster Management Centre.
At least six Sri Lankans are killed every day in road accidents, a figure that has been rising annually.
According to official data, 2,409 people died in road accidents in 2007, while 25,623 people, most between 26 and 30, sustained injuries. Recorded figures show a 69 percent increase from 1995 when the death toll stood at 1,681.
Put more graphically, according to the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition's Trauma Secretariat, on average at least one person dies in a road accident every four-and-a half-hours in Sri Lanka.
Police to the rescue
The capital, Colombo, has a fully fledged ambulance service, but in other towns accident victims have to rely on the assistance of the police and passers-by to rush them to the nearest hospital.
"We have seen that policemen and three-wheeler drivers are usually the first to respond when an accident occurs," said Ramitha Wijethunga, UNDP national programme officer for disaster management. But, he added, unskilled attempts to help in an accident often aggravated injuries, sometimes causing death.
By providing elementary pre-hospital medical training, UNDP aims to enhance the ability of the police and the general public to respond more effectively to road accidents, bombings and other trauma.
Photo: Christine Jayasinghe/IRIN  |
| Road accidents are one of the leading causes of death in Sri Lanka and training for first responders is being stepped up to help prevent death and permanent disability for victims |
At a recent training programme for policemen attached to the community police unit in Colombo, instructors from St John Ambulance demonstrated how an accident victim should be checked for injuries and head, neck and back stabilised if spinal injury was suspected.
"We had very basic first-aid training given to us when we joined the police force," said Nuwan Bandara, one of the participants. "Here, we learn so many additional techniques, things we were not aware of before."
Fellow policeman Asanka Dissanayake recounted how a person held in a police station had had convulsions and only one officer knew how to safeguard the patient until the seizure stopped.
"This type of training gives us the confidence to handle a medical emergency," he said. His only regret was that the workshop was only one day, not enough time to learn all the procedures. However, the Police Department planned to select those officers who demonstrated an aptitude for advanced emergency medical training. Ninety police officers have received the first-aid training so far.
The UNDP police project is part of a broader initiative that has been providing first-aid skills to three-wheeler drivers in Colombo, and expects to train scooter taxi drivers in the provinces in the months to come. So far, some 800 drivers have been trained. Many accident victims are transported to hospital crammed in the back of tuk-tuks, often increasing the risk of additional injury.
cj/bj/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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