Most of the deaths due to accidental injuries occur outside the hospital. The emergency care system in India is still in a very pathetic stage. A study conducted by the country’s premier health institute — AIIMS, Delhi found that the emergency medical care system in the country was far from adequate. The study also supports the fact that 91% of hospitals in secondary and tertiary level centers in the country have ambulances, while less than 35% of these have skilled medical staff and paramedics to provide emergency medical care to the patients. Moreover, the emergency care services are mostly confined to the urban cities (tier 1 or 2) and are hardly available in the real Bharat where 70-80% population actually lives. 

Accidents and injuries stats

Globally, 1.3 million people die and 20–50 million people suffer nonfatal injuries every year due to road traffic accidents. As per the World Health Organization, nearly 50% of all road traffic fatalities occur at the site of the crash or on the way to the hospital. For every death that occurs in the hospital due to injury, there are about 15–20 seriously injured patients needing hospitalization and about 30–50 injured patients needing first-aid care in the community. 

Nearly half of the trauma deaths occur within the 1st hour of the accident and another 30% within 24 hours of arrival at a hospital. The 1st hour after any accident or injury is considered a golden hour. During this time the patient has to get the right treatment at the right place and right time. 

NCRB data

According to the NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau), more than 3.74 lakh people lost their lives due to accidents in 2020. A staggering 35%, i.e. 1.31 lakh victims, were involved in road accidents.

First aid

First aid is vital for any road accident or injury. It can prevent harmful situations. However, most of us don’t know the basic procedures used in first aid like CPR. Knowing about first aid can be really helpful in helping others in their emergencies. You can save someone’s life by knowing the first aid techniques and procedures. 

With the objective to promote first aid training to save lives, World’s First aid Day is celebrated every second Saturday of September and this year it is being observed on the 10th of September. On this day, various campaigns are being organized to highlight the importance of first aid and create awareness. This year’s theme for World First Aid Day is Lifelong First Aid. World’s First aid was firstly observed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Ambulance services 108 are taking care of prehospital care in India. But traffic congestion is causing the main hindrance to their services. Thus, a bike ambulance serves better than the traditional car ambulance service. It can easily travel through a busy street and traffic jams. However, it does have its own challenges like inadequate public funding and a lack of skilled workforce. The bike ambulance services have been started in some cities of states and have a long way to go.