SRI LANKA: Tuk-tuk drivers turn life-savers
NEGOMBO, 28 September 2008 (IRIN) - Knotting bandages, carefully lifting an injured person and applying pressure to a bleeding wound are not usually all in a day s work for tuk-tuk drivers.
But a pre-hospital care training programme will make thousands of scooter taxi drivers throughout Sri Lanka proficient in first-aid procedures that could help save lives and prevent disabilities, according to health professionals.
Usually blamed for causing road accidents, the three-wheeler drivers are being taught the basics of first aid, including managing bleeding, burns and fractures, checking airways for obstructions and deciding when to use the wheelbarrow lift or the fireman s lift.
Three-wheeler drivers are usually the first to arrive at the scene of a road accident, said Adrian Mutupulle of the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society (SLRCS), pointing out that tuk-tuks are a popular and quick way to get about. We are training them to be first responders when they get there.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and an NGO, Medical Teams International, are funding the project, which is seen as a significant step towards improving the first response system on the island where only the capital, Colombo, can boast a fully-fledged ambulance service. The training, targeting some 4,500 three-wheeler drivers, 1,300 traffic police officers and about 1,000 civilians, was planned around World First Aid Day on 13 September and is the first step in a continuing programme.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=80632 |