Assisting after an accident

Duane Ellis, operations manager at Jamaica Automobile Association (JAA), believes if more members of the public were educated on how to assist accident victims more lives could be saved.

He said passers-by - who are often the first on the scene and who have the best intentions - are willing to assist the victims, but are unaware of what is required.

"People often act on impulse. Their first instinct is to simply pull the victim from the wreckage, then hurriedly place the person in the back of another vehicle and try to rush them to hospital," he said.

"And, while they mean no harm, some injured persons often suffer more physical problems from this type of assistance."

First move

The operations manager said the first thing one should do at a scene of an accident is to dial the emergency numbers - 119 and 110.

The next thing to do is to quickly assess the situation at the scene and identify the numbers of people injured, including those who may have been flung from the vehicle or hit by the vehicle.

Speak to the victims in an effort to calm them. Gather information about any emergency contacts. Ellis said talking to the victim may also help to ascertain if the victim is badly injured.

"Try to help the victim to relax," he says. "Ask them simple questions. Ask for a name, enquire where they were going, and so on. These questions will help you to determine if the person has a concussion, which is a state where the victim might be semi-conscious. As the first respondent, your job is to stabilise the victim before moving them."

If the person appears to have a spinal injury, which is possible, then it is best for that person to remain in the position in which they were found, until professional help arrives.