Open house: What steps should be taken to match the standards set by the Sadak Surakhya Force?

Time to Increase manpower, equipment

First of all, government medical establishments and trauma centres need to increase their manpower and equipment to deal with patients involved in accidents. Secondly, they need to depute on duty only specialists and assistants specialised in the field so that immediate and timely action can be taken to save the patient. Last but not the least, medical facilities at these institutions need to be upgraded by making provisions for more beds and neat and clean premises.

Sanjay Chawla

Question for next week

The municipal corporation has stopped illegal constructions in the city. It points to an organised land mafia reclaiming public spaces illegally to the detriment of residents at large. This is one area where residents themselves flout the law with impunity. What steps should be taken to check illegal constructions in the city?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to amritsardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (Feb 8)

Set standards through quick reaction

Indian roads, including Punjab highways, have been claiming lakhs of precious lives every year, thanks to reckless driving by motorists, archaic machinery, vehicles that are not roadworthy, uneven roads and other hazards like parked vehicles without any reflectors. However, due credit must go to the state Transport Department for the introduction of Sadak Surakhya Force (Road Safety Force) flagged off by Chief Minister Bhagwant Maan the other day. Equipped with modern high-power cars available round-the-clock within a radius of 30 kilometres, the staff employed will remain active to reduce the rate of road fatalities. They will check unskilled or drunken driving and tow aside any vehicle, however heavy it may be, if seen wrongly parked on the highway. It is also expected to chase away stray cattle. This Sadak Surakhya Force is claimed to be the first of its kind in the country and will reach the required spot in minutes, if called at the emergency number 112. In order to match the standards set by the Force, all healthcare centres along the highways should be actively geared up and equipped to deal with emergencies. The traffic must yield and provide access to the cars of Sadak Surakhya Force which are supposed to be patrolling the roads like in Dubai. The ideal before this new road police is to ensure a highly streamlined movement on expressways which demands co-operation from all stakeholders. Irresponsible drivers on their part should now realise that they are under the watch of this highly efficient force and have to observe the rule of the road. Genuine motorists will, for the first time, enjoy the romance and pleasure of driving on modern expressways.

Prof Mohan Singh

Provide medical care during golden hour

The Punjab Government has recently established the “Sadak Surakhya Force” intending to reduce road accidents and provide assistance to the victims. However, the effectiveness of the initiative would be improved if medical facilities and trauma centres of matching standards are available nearby during the golden hour of the accident. The golden hour is the critical period immediately following a traumatic injury during which the victim has the highest chance of survival or avoiding long-term health complications. Hence, it is crucial to provide prompt medical care to the victim within the first 60 minutes from the time of injury or the onset of symptoms. For this, a network of trauma care facilities in government hospitals along national/state highways and busy roads should be established following the National Programme for Prevention & Management of Trauma & Burn Injuries. This would help to ensure that no trauma victim has to travel for more than 50 km and a designated trauma centre is available at a distance of every 100 kilometre. In addition to this, specifically trained medical professionals should be deputed to provide immediate medical care to accident victims, particularly to stabilise and provide basic life support until the victim is transported to a hospital. Additionally, emergency medical ambulances equipped with basic life support apparatus should be stationed at strategic locations to provide immediate medical assistance. Lastly, people should also be educated about the importance of road safety and the need to follow traffic rules through awareness campaigns. Road safety is a shared responsibility, and everyone should play their part to ensure their safety and that of others on the road.

Kulwant Singh Phull

Hike road tax, build blood banks

Road accidents are on the rise. Metallic roads, sturdy vehicles and a wild craze for over-speeding are some of the reasons that often lead to fatal road accidents. As per a report, a lot of people die in road accidents every year in the state. Besides, a great many of them are maimed. Many lives can, however, be saved. Since the state has a limited number of trauma centres, precious lives are lost in road accidents. Furthermore, the existing trauma centres lack modern state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities. These centres don’t have specialists to attend to the victims. The government should construct trauma centres on highways. There should be at least one trauma centre within a stretch of 25 kilometres. These trauma centres should be given the latest equipment. They must have an in-built blood bank as well. Now, the big question arises: From where will the funds come for these trauma centres? Secondly, who will pay salaries to the specialists and other ancillary staff? These are valid questions. The government collects road tax from vehicle owners. The money can be utilised to build trauma centres. The arch of the road tax can be restructured to generate more funds. Luxury vehicle buyers should be made to pay a slightly higher tax than their poor brethren who buy ‘within the budget’ vehicles. Recruitment of physicians and other staff should be done on priority basis to make these centres functional. The services of specialists working in government and private hospitals can be availed to overcome the issue of their shortage. The specialists should be given incentives to keep them tied to trauma centres. NRIs, NGOs and philanthropists can also be roped in this noble venture. The government needs political will to accomplish the goal. It should build at least two trauma centres in a year. In this way, the state will have 20 trauma centres in just a decades time.

Rajan Kapoor

Need more ambulances, emergency lanes

Undoubtedly, the health sector is an indispensable part of any set-up, connected with the life and death of the common man. Yet it is mostly overlooked by the administration. As a result, the current state of health institutions is pathetic. If we are to compare the standards set by the Punjab Government in streamlining traffic and putting a check on road accidents while forming a “Sadak Suraksha Force”, it seems like the well-being of the state is quite neglected. Viewing the potential of the government, there is a need for similar development and growth in emergency and trauma services in the health institutions of various areas in Punjab. Often, poor and sluggish conditions of government hospitals have been observed in places like Mohali and Faridkot where thousands of people are dependent on a single government-organised health institution and face a plethora of complications. There are certain steps the administration can take to raise the quality of health facilities in Punjab. The first and foremost requirement is to provide top-notch ambulances to the hospitals and appoint additional ambulance drivers. Simultaneously, the government should plan to develop separate emergency lanes so that ambulances can run efficiently on the road. In many rural areas of Punjab, lack of connectivity can result in fatalities due to lack of access to ambulances, snatching the lives of many innocents. There should be special ‘Seva Kendras’ for emergency health services in the villages. The third step can be to provide all the required medical equipment and medicines in abundance and more than enough for emergency services in the hospitals. The final step is to maintain hygiene and cleanliness in the institutions to prevent any form of infection. All these measures together would be sufficient to improve the quality of medical establishments and build enough trust for people to hand over their lives to the surveillance of these medical health associations. The people of Punjab are quite hopeful about the diligent work of the state government.

Lakshit Jindal

Link medical facilities with police vehicles

The Punjab government’s latest initiative of founding “Sadak Surakhya Force” with the aim of streamlining road safety and providing relief measures to accident victims is highly commendable. However, what is worrisome is how effectively and cohesively the scheme is implemented in its true spirit in collaboration with all the stakeholders in future. Among the prominent stakeholders are the existing infrastructure of government medical and trauma facilities required to meet the objectives as per the original plan but unfortunately they appear to be both inadequate and insufficient. To overcome this serious bottleneck, the government should prepare a list of all private hospitals and nursing homes in the vicinity of highways and provide them the necessary guidelines in the matter of saving the life of an accident victim. All such identified centres must be connected online with the vehicles provided to the police force so that oncethe van reaches the accident spot within the stipulated time period, nearby emergency facilities get automatically connected to prepare for life-saving treatment even before the arrival of the van. The expenses going to be incurred by such hospitals for emergency/trauma services may be reimbursed by the government in a time-bound manner.

Jagdish Chander

Maintain discipline, security on roads

With rise in means of road transport, there has been a tremendous increase in traffic over the past few decades. According due priority to this changed scenario, the government too is in mission mode to create a matching infrastructure. Some vital development projects have been completed and many more are in progress. As a result of this thrust, a visible improvement in speed and facilities is in the offing everywhere. However, an alarming number of accidents reported everyday has become an issue of commuter safety on roads. With the objective of maintaining discipline and providing security on roads while driving, Punjab government has taken the initiative to establish a Road Safety Force, which will undertake regular patrolling with a renewed fleet of vehicles fitted with specialised equipment. Besides helping in streamlining traffic through enhanced fines and imposition of penalties on violation of traffic rules, it will keep a check on drunken driving and over-speeding using efficient electronic devices. In this way, regular patrolling, CCTV surveillance, traffic signs/boards displaying contacts/facilities available at the nearest location will bring safety in travel apart from promoting awareness and self-discipline. While much is anticipated from this special force to check road accidents, currently the medical facilities along the roads to take care of the victims of any mishaps are relatively few. The government needs to give impetus to health infrastructure along all routes, such as mobile vans equipped with emergent medical care, health institutes, hospitals and trauma centres upgraded for quick services. Obviously, when we are fast developing road infra to match world standards, safety ought to be our foremost concern. Indeed, so many precious lives can be saved by complying with the SSF standards of prompt road assistance, medical care and inter-connectivity of various emergency services.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Force should have database of hospitals

Designing a special Sadak Surakhya Force to prevent road accidents is a right step towards streamlining traffic. Traffic congestion is a big problem, especially on roads connecting different cities of Punjab. The presence of a task force will create fear among drivers who drive recklessly. But the main issue is in the case of mishaps or accidents with the task force taking the injured to the nearest hospital. The question remains whether our hospitals are equipped with modern facilities and required technical manpower. Will an injured person get proper treatment there? Does this force have a database of the best equipped hospitals with it? Has the government created such a database and done auditing of those hospitals? In case of any accident death, the onus of saving lives would be more on these hospitals than any task force. Hence, what other thing can this task force do is to disseminate awareness about traffic rules and guidance about first aid among the common man, especially schoolchildren who drive out of passion. Equipping the hospitals nearest to the accident site, whether it is private or government, with the necessary equipment and manpower, is the biggest challenge in front of the government to make this initiative successful.

Harvinder Singh Chugh