First aid training to become mandatory for commercial vehicle drivers in India

First aid training and learning of life saving techniques will become mandatory for heavy commercial vehicle drivers including those operating buses and trucks from July 2016 in India. These skills will be a must if one is to get a new HCV driving licence or get it renewed.

This was announced by Vijay Chibber, secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highway (MoRTH), while launching a nationwide programme to impart first aid and life saving techniques to CV drivers to make them become first response and trauma care providers for road accident victims.

MoRTH in association with the International Road Federation (IRF), a global  body working for safer roads worldwide, and Automobile Association of Upper India (AAUI) are jointly organising this heavy vehicle driver training programme starting from Delhi and NCR. 

During the programme, 10,000 drivers of heavy vehicles will be trained initially in first aid, basic life support and rescue systems. The training will include applying basic measures to clear the victim’s airway and control bleeding, clearing any obstructions and draining any fluid from the victim’s mouth, calling emergency services, performing first aid for the victim, safe handling and shifting techniques to avoid further injury to the victim till the emergency medical services arrive at the accident spot. 

Skills include performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) through chest compressions, maintaining breathing, relieving choking at the accident site and dealing with different kind of bleeding. Importantly, drivers will be taught to first aid techniques to rescue and transfer victims.

“The training will be imparted by trained doctors of the trauma care hospital using videos, practice demos, presentations and other such mechanisms to impart skills. Case scenarios would be also discussed and critical cases simulated to practice and acquire life-saving skills. The programme will be later taken to other states and, after seeing the success rate, first aid training for commercial vehicle drivers would likely be made mandatory for obtaining or renewing a license in July 1, 2016 .This will help reduce fatalities resulting from traffic fatalities in the country as India accounts for the highest number of fatal accidents in the world with over 141,000 fatalities last year itself,” said Chibber. 

K K Kapila, chairman of the Geneva-based International Road Federation (IRF), said: “Untrained people are often frightened to touch casualties but early intervention can save lives or decrease the impact of injuries, leading to quicker recovery or lesser injuries for the victims. Commercial vehicle drivers will be trained with valuable skills that can help in road crashes, and they are also useful in other accident situations.

“The eFD (enhanced First Aid for Drivers) programme is specially developed for IRF by a team of international experts to world class standards. The IRF is introducing this initiative under a newly launched arm called the ‘International Collaborative Centre for Mitigation of Adverse Outcomes from Traffic Incidents (ICMOT).’

To start with, training will be imparted to drivers in the NCR region at the Automobile Association of Upper India in association with medical and trauma experts team headed by Dr V Gautam, trauma care surgeon and specialist, UK. 

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