Doctor Amar Chauhan

Gurgaon: As major cities in India continue to suffer from lax traffic safety regulations and road fatalities, India has the world's largest number of road deaths, according to WHO's latest Global road safety report. A Gurgaon based doctor has stepped up to raise awareness about first aid to accident victims. Some of the reasons of road accidents in India are poor ambulance response, lack of first aid awareness and reluctance to help the injured due to fear of entanglement in police cases. "We are afraid to help accident victims. We fear getting trapped in a police case," said a commuter. Doctor Amar Chauhan has tried to step up awareness. The Gurgaon based doctor set up the Ayushman Hospital and Trauma Centre. He began a poster campaign illustrating first aid for accident victims.


"In India, there is no dedicated emergency medical services, so in case of accidents, it is the general public or bystanders who come to the rescue of the accident victims. At some time, they do things which are contrary to the principle of trauma care, although unintentionally, so my aim is to educate the general public how they can render first aid in a proper manner," Dr Chauhan said. The campaign also highlights legal protection for those who help. "When you help a trauma victim, you will not be called for questioning, rather your act will be appreciated. According to the Supreme Court the person who looks after a trauma victim, his duty or his job ends once he leaves the patient at the hospital," Dr Chauhan said. Dr Chauhan and his team also conduct public first aid demonstrations to commuters and drivers. He is now seeking government aid to spread his campaign across the National Capital Region. "It will be very difficult to run this kind of a program and of course we need resources, we need government support and police support," he said. Dr Amar Chauhan's campaign is not only in the public interest, but given the rise in traffic safety violations and road accidents in the NCR region, it is essential. It not only raises awareness, but helps people save lives. The government should help initiatives like this to stem the tide in the rise in road fatalities.