Some days back my cousin called me on my phone. He was crying like anything. And when he told me the reason my heart started sinking. Is early twenties any age for saying goodbye forever?? The words of my cousin still echo in my mind, my friend met a road traffic accident and on way to SKIMS Soura he lost his battle with life.
Aww!! That inconsolable moment, how will I face his mother and sister, his father had already met the same fate few years ago. He was not coming out of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Is there any wayout to run away from memories of your beloved ones? I guess, NO. Memories are faded but not erased.
RTAs (Road traffic accidents) are the leading cause of deathin 15 -30 year age group with 90% of cases occurring in developing countries.1.3 million deaths occur every year due to RTAs . 20-50 million people in ayear suffer vehicular related injuries including disability. Accidents are killing more people than anyother disasters, 55 accidents occur in every hour with 17 deaths in each hour.This catastrophe is the major threat to country by losing their youngsters .Where lies the fault? What are the risk factors? How can be this prevented?
RISK FACTORS
1) Not obeying traffic rules
2) Not using helmets , safety belts, having vision problems & defective judgements
3) Rash driving, distractions by mobile phones
4) Consumption of alcohol while driving or driving after drinking
5) Tiredness
Is it possible to achieve ‘BRASILIA DECLARATION IN INDIA BY2020’?YES, if we follow the better road safety measures. A study was conducted by Mir et al interritory care hospital in Kashmir which showed that 43- 45% deaths were due to two wheelers with male:femaleratio of 4:1, which means over coming years if these accidents were notprevented male population will decrease and is great matter of concern. What will be the future of our society? Let’stry to follow Brasilia declaration on road safety.
Another important factor which is a need of hour ‘A TRAUMACENTER’ . At least after every 40 kilometers their should be a trauma center,so as to prevent deaths in golden hour/golden time . When there is any accidentin North Kashmir or South Kashmir, we refer those cases to Srinagar tertiarycare hospitals and we lost our GOLDEN TIME to prevent deaths due to roadtraffic accidents. Let’s give priority to life. Let’s demand for trauma centersto prevent mortality rate due to road traffic accidents.
(Dr Saadat Nazir Shah is from Government Medical College Jammu)