Action plan for treating road accident victims finalised

An action plan to provide better treatment to those suffering from road crash injures was finalised yesterday after a two-day intense discussion among government officials, WHO, doctors and representatives from various development organisations.

The brainstorming session brought out a picture of poor handling in a post-crash phase and care of surviving victims, as there was a dearth of medicine, logistics and persons trained in providing first-aid all over the country.

Pre-hospital care, access to the emergency medical care, training of human resources, rehabilitating the injured and post-crash management have been spelled out in the plan styled "Health Sector Action Plan on Road Safety".

"Preventing traffic accidents should be the main goal to  pursue, but the reality is that crashes continue to occur. The government and society therefore have to be prepared to mitigate the consequences of crashes and improve victims' conditions," said Prof AKM Fazlur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Injury Prevention and Research, Bangladesh.

He said the aim of post-crash care is to avoid preventable death and disability, limit severity of injury and sufferings caused by it, and ensure best possible recovery and reintegration of survivors into the society.

"Emergency medical service (EMS) can make important contribution to reducing these avoidable deaths and disabilities. Unfortunately, EMS for post-crash care is not adequate in the country," he added.

The workshop ended with a target to get the government's approval of the action plan by June this year.

Bangladesh is among those countries where road crashes and casualties continue to climb, posing a serious risk to public health. 

According to WHO, every year road crashes claim lives of about 21,000, leaving countless more injured in Bangladesh.

Regional Adviser of WHO's Regional Office for South-East Asia Dr Patanjali Dev Nayer, Director General of Health Services Dr Abul Kalam Azad, Prof M Mostafa Zaman of WHO Bangladesh and Ilias Kanchan of Nirapod Sarak Chai also spoke at the programme.