Youth shake a leg to make a point

Two ambulances on Brigade Road with a group of students dancing to popular Bollywood beats on the middle of the road took the public by surprise on Sunday evening.

The amublances displayed banners about the importance of making way for ambulances in traffic.

The flash mob organised by Juice Konect, a youth forum, drew the attention of shoppers on Brigade Road. The youth forum has taken the initiative to emphasise the importance of being sensitive to ambulances as every second saved for the vehicle will save the life of a patient.

The Golden Hour, as coined by Dr R Adams, an American Army surgeon, is said to begin the moment of impact of the injury and continues for the next 60 minutes, within which the patient must be taken to the hospital.

Col (retd) Dr Mukul Saxena, who served in Emergency Management and Research Institute (EMRI), said global studies indicate that at least 12 to 15 per cent of the lives can be saved if an ambulance reaches the patient on time and nearly 32 per cent can be saved if the ambulance reaches the hospital on time.

“Some people quarrel with the ambulance drivers saying that the vehicle is empty and there is no urgency for it to pass. The public must understand that these vehicles are on the way to pick up patients,” he added.

According to research by Dr Saxena based on the Bangalore Traffic Police data of the road traffic accidents in 2011, out of 757 persons killed in 2011 in the city due to road accidents, 90 lives could have been saved had they been quickly taken to a hospital, and 242 lives could have been saved had they been shifted faster to an advanced trauma centre.

Dhanajay, an EMRI 108 driver, says: “We announce on the microphone asking people to make way. Sometimes they do not respond. We find it difficult to reach out to patients when people do not understand the urgency of it. Koramangala and the Mysore Road routes are the most difficult to get through because of heavy traffic,”