More
than 50% of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are active
in road safety and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) is
particularly well-organized to provide emergency services to
road victims. In Iran, the toll of road crashes is high - between
28,000 and 30, 000 people die on the roads, and 300,000 are
injured each year. In response, the Iranian Red Crescent offers
first aid courses – more than 12,300 in 2006 alone, to
people from many different walks of life, and organizes country-wide
road rescue operations carried out from 530 fixed and mobile
posts set up on Iranian roads.
These operations include the distribution of brochures, road
maps, the provision of temporary shelters for travellers in
need, the distribution of food in emergencies, relief and rescue
services when road crashes occur, as well as evacuation of the
injured and transferral to the nearest medical institution.
More than 1,500 volunteers and hundreds of medical personnel
are mobilized on the roads at particularly “sensitive”
times, such as the celebration of the Iranian New Year. Once
again this year, the IRCS volunteers did an excellent job in
providing services to travellers. IRCS road rescue posts were
set up on all roads, big and small, throughout the country,
and they contributed to saving many lives during the holiday
period.
A high school student specializing in computer science, Hossein
Zarei, together with some of his friends, joined the Iranian
Red Crescent road rescue and relief plan as volunteers to assist
travellers who take to the roads to spend their long New Year
vacation sightseeing or visit their relatives. “As Red
Crescent volunteers, we work in fixed and mobile road posts
during the holidays to guide the travellers who have chosen
our province to spend their holidays,” explains Hossein.
“We give them Red Crescent and safety leaflets, as well
as maps. They are our guests and we do our best to guide them
effectively so that they find the places they are looking for
easily and take good memories of their trip back home with them.”
Hossein adds that he and his friends have been trained to provide
first aid “as a vital part of effective emergency response
for those in need, particularly in road accidents.”
The Iranian Red Crescent Society is committed to ensuring the
health and safety of travellers by addressing road accidents
both as part of its overall disaster preparedness and emergency
response responsibilities and as an auxiliary to the governmental
emergency medical services. Its trained volunteers are on alert
in 530 fixed and mobile road posts across the country to assist
the victims of road accidents and to provide relief services
wherever there is need.
Hamid Mohsseni was lucky enough to have a Red Crescent mobile
rescue team in the vicinity when his motorcycle collided with
a car making a left turn across the road. The specially-trained
Red Crescent volunteers rushed to the accident site. While some
were helping the police guide traffic, the others delivered
first aid which proved to be effective in reanimating him. He
was then prepared for transfer to a hospital in the nearest
city by Red Crescent ambulance for a thorough check up.
Each year, the IRCS road rescue and relief plan, which is implemented
from mid-March to early April, mobilizes more than 1,500 volunteers
working as rescue and relief workers, 420 medical doctors and
nurses working round the clock and equipped with life-saving
devices, seven helicopters, nine mobile clinics, 530 ambulances
and one mobile operation theatre. The plan has proved very successful
and popular.
In addition to the road safety plan, ongoing trainings are offered
in each of the IRCS’ thirty provincial branches so that
volunteers update themselves with new findings in the road rescue
knowledge and review the lessons learned from the life-saving
endeavours of the previous year.
Findings indicate that road vehicles are the deadliest means
of transportation, mainly because of human error. But although
statistics show that deadly accidents are not about to stop,
in spite of campaigns to persuade drivers to comply with traffic
codes, the application of preventive measures have played a
significant role in decreasing the numbers of casualties from
road crashes.
With the objective of preserving the life and health of people
and working in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, the
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and the Iranian
touring and tourism organization, Iranian Red Crescent volunteers
did their best during New Year holidays to guide travellers
on the roads and to render rescue and relief services. This
initiative proved to be vital in terms of reducing casualties
by 35 percent compared with statistics at the same time last
year.
This year alone, the IRCS road rescue volunteers provided first
aid services in more than 4,880 cases, saved the lives of road
crash victims in 826 cases, provided temporary shelter in more
than 59,200 cases, provided outpatient services to some 58,760
people and transferred more than 3,400 road accident victims
to clinics.
“We are very proud of these people” said an Iranian
traveller, as he waved towards the Red Crescent volunteers.
“They don’t take holidays for themselves, but they
still work for the safety of others voluntarily.”
(*) Source: World Report on road traffic injury prevention,
jointly published in 2004 by the World Bank and the World Health
Organization (WHO).
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With
the objective of preserving the life and health of people
and working in cooperation with the Ministry of Health,
the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), and
the Iranian touring and tourism organization, Iranian
Red Crescent volunteers did their best during New Year
holidays to guide travellers on the roads and to render
rescue and relief services. One exemple of this is the
distribution of brochures and road maps. (p15646)
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Each
year, the IRCS road rescue and relief plan, which is implemented
from mid-March to early April, mobilizes more than 1,500
volunteers working as rescue and relief workers, 420 medical
doctors and nurses working round the clock and equipped
with life-saving devices, seven helicopters, nine mobile
clinics, 530 ambulances and one mobile operation theatre.
(p15648)
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More
than 1,500 volunteers and hundreds of medical personnel
are mobilized on the roads at particularly “sensitive”
times, such as the celebration of the Iranian New Year.
IRCS road rescue posts were set up on all roads, big and
small, throughout the country, and they contributed to
saving many lives during the holiday period.
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