By Hossein Sharifara, International Affairs Department, Iranian Red Crescent Society
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).