Jammu, Aug 27: With all proposal formulated by the state government for timely action in road mishap cases remaining confined to the official files, the Jammu and Kashmir unit of Indian Red Cross Society (ICRC) has decided to set up its units in all the colleges, across the state, to provide timely first aid to the victims.
 Officials said that Red Cross has recently forwarded a proposal to different colleges and district administrations desiring to have its fully equipped units for first aid.
 The specific units, proposed to be set up in the colleges, will have 25 boys and girls which will work under the supervision of the Red Cross society in each district, official sources said adding that the units will be provided first aid kits and necessary training to deal with the various tragedies including road mishaps.
 The target will be mostly remote and rural areas, where in case of any tragedy, it takes hours before the medical help reaches the victims.
 Senior Red Cross officials said that the proposal was formulated after a detailed study of various death cases in natural or man made tragedies. “In most of the cases the victims in rural areas do not get medical attention in time which also sometimes lead to death”, officials said.
 Elaborating the proposal, Anil Padha, Honorary Secretary of the society said, “Our goal is to save the lives of accident victims, by providing necessary training to the students so that they can provide immediate help. Most of the people involved in rescue operations have little knowledge about how to deal with the injured”.
  “We have taken up the issue with the respective college managements and district administrations in this regard. If it is implemented it can help in saving precious lives and will help in scientific management of the injured people, before they are shifted to hospital”, Padha said.
 Officials said that these units can also help in dealing with the weather related calamities and volunteers for the blood donation can be found within the units itself.
 It is pertinent to mention here that more than 900 people were killed in road accidents in Jammu and Kashmir during 2010. In last five years close to 5,000 persons have been killed in different road mishaps particularly on Batote-Kishtwar highway and inter-districts road within the moutanious region of Chenab Valley.
 “Border districts which have poor road infrastructure and mountainous terrain have witnessed more accidents, which have caused many deaths over the years and at times government has also failed to act in providing enough men and material”, said an official.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 27 Aug 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 27 Aug 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:00:00 IST