Commissioner of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy on Thursday called for educating people on how to extend first-aid and evacuate the accident victim to the nearby hospital without wasting valuable time.
“Mishandling leads to death or disability of the patients in most cases. Hence, immediate rescue of the victim to the nearby hospital during first few minutes known as golden moments is very important,” he said at a meeting organised here to distribute active wheelchairs to empower people suffering from spinal cord injuries and orthopaedic disabilities.
The meeting was conducted at a care centre set up by The Ability People (TAP) at a building provided by GVMC near Jagadamba junction. Hundred wheelchairs brought from UK and assembled here through Motivation India at 50 per cent discount were distributed at the meeting. Rs.8.60 lakh spent on procuring the wheelchairs was sponsored by HPCL under its corporate social responsibility.
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Mr. Reddy complimented the organisers and the sponsor for their initiative and said people should be taught on defensive driving, how to walk on the road and cross signals and avoid using bright lights.
He said of over 900-km. long NH-5, Visakhapatnam itself had 73 km. making the city roads highly vulnerable to accidents.
The accidents that occur on city roads accounted for 20 per cent of total accidents on NH-5, he stated.
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HPCL General Manager and in-charge of Visakha Refinery V.V.R. Narasimham said it was an opportunity for them to be associated with TAP in helping people with spinal cord injuries and orthopaedic disabilities.
TAP chairman S. Suryaprakash Rao and founder-secretary Dilip Patro said they had taken the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) building on nominal rent to start a 10-bed post-operative care unit for accident victims and conduct training on use of active wheelchairs.
TAP president D. Himachal Rao, former Rotary district governor D. Varada Reddy, doctor Ashok Kumar and others spoke.