Hope for accident victims as ‘SMILE’ launched

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Accident victims may now be able to smile with the new project launched by the police to save them.   Under the   Seamless Medical Intervention for Lifecare Emergencies (SMILE) scheme launched recently to reduce accident deaths, every police vehicle will have spine a board  and policemen trained in life-saving.

As per Kerala police estimates, 50 per cent of deaths due to road accidents in the state can be avoided if attended to with care during the golden hour. Around 80 per cent of the victims in drowning cases could be saved if given artificial respiration prior to taking them to hospitals.

“Local residents are mostly the first respondents and the victims are in most cases transported to hospitals in  autorickshaws  using bare hands. This often causes more damage  making several people bedridden. Police officers  have to reach the spot in any case. Having a spine board in each police vehicle can go a long way in saving the victims,” said state police chief T.P. Senkumar who himself is pursuing a doctorate on accidents.

The home department will seek Rs 1.8 crore National Health Mission funds for the preliminary training of policemen in the districts.

Though a tutorial with 15 modules has been prepared, the  health department has inadequate resources to train all the police officers in the state. So a video guide  similar to the ones used by the American Heart Association is being made.

In the first step,  doctors conducted  a six-hour training session here for deputy superintendents of all police districts on Saturday.

“The policemen will have to give first aid to the patients quickly and despatch them to hospitals with precision and speed comparable to those seen in Formula One car race pit stops. Our action plans for accident response is being taken as a national model. However, the effective implementation of the model will be the real challenge,” a Directorate of Health Services  official who partners with the home department said.

Central funds for road safety will also be available to buy life-saving equipment in each vehicle. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, ADGP Arun Kumar Sinha, Director of Health Services Jayasankar and Director of Medical Education Sreekumari were present at the training session.  ADGP Hemachandran, who himself survived an accident, was a special invitee.