Next time you consider driving in the yellow lane, also consider the possibility that a family member or friend might need urgent medical treatment and someone is sitting in the emergency lane! The Arrive Alive Road Safety website has added a section titled “Road Safety and Response Time to Accidentsâ€. This includes suggestions on how all road users can assist emergence response vehicles to arrive swiftly at accident scenes:
• Ensuring they have information on hand when calling – accurate address details and nature of the incident.
• Landmarks are useful and if no street names exist, agree on a meeting area at a specific landmark.
• Allowing emergency vehicle right of way to respond to the emergencies and giving way timeously.
• Allowing access to the scene of the incident and patient/s.
• Send someone to meet the vehicles, ensure that security at entrance points are made aware of emergencies in complexes, switch on some outside lights if incident is at night, clear access routes and lock away any dangerous or vicious domestic animals.
Netcare 911 has also suggested that road users acquaint themselves with the following important aspects:
• Emergency services personnel need access to the scene and patients and members of the public can assist by allowing this and leaving them to do their jobs.
• Once the emergency personnel arrive, leave it to them.
• Safety of the public is also a top priority and they must not approach any dangerous area or situation as they may just end up adding to the casualties and increase the workload for the emergency services.
• Keep updating the call centre if anything changes or you are concerned about anything else as they may need to change the level of the response or the resources allocated to it and can relay further information to the response team.
Remember that emergency medical teams need our assistance to provide them with the time and space for an effective medical response. The least we can do is allowing them this!