Bengaluru: The number of road accidents in Karnataka, among India’s most literate and progressive states, is the third highest in the country, with Bengaluru alone accounting for two deaths in crashes every single day and 700-800 every year. Nationally, the number looks grim.

In all, 1.5 million people sustain serious head injuries every year in India and 20-22 per cent of them die before reaching a hospital. Studies prove that 60 per cent of all head injury victims are in the most productive 18 to 40 age group, which translates into a staggering economic loss of up to 2 per cent of our nominal GDP.

With a death rate of about 30 per 100,000 population, India is among the world’s riskiest countries for road users according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report. So how do we prevent escalating number of road traffic accidents? Dr NK Venkataramana says:

“Adherence to simple safety practices like wearing helmets and seatbelts and not using mobile phones while driving could bring down casualty rates dramatically. Drink driving is again something that could be easily put down.”

All that governments need to do is run sustained (not just during road safety weeks) and effective awareness campaigns and alongside ensure strict enforcement of traffic rules. In addition, far more attention needs to be paid to the quality of road infrastructure: road surfacing, architecture and alignment, traffic management systems and policing.

Finally, unnecessary road humps have of late emerged as a major menace, causing a number of completely avoidable incidents of head injury, he further added. In Bengaluru, it takes head injury patients a shocking 4.6 hours to reach a hospital on an average following an accident.

Medical science has repeatedly proved that with the right care at the right time by the right people, accident related death rates can be more than halved.

Right response to medical emergencies starts with immediate administration of first-aid at the accident spot and unfolds through the following steps: expert handling and shifting of the victim to an ambulance equipped with life-saving gear and medicines, monitoring and administration of emergency care along the way and finally admission at a facility specially equipped for emergency care. Adherence to this process maximises survival rates and minimises the chances of complications, the complexity and cost of treatment and the length of stay at hospitals.

On the occasion of World Head Injury Awareness Day being observed on March 20, Brains Hospitals and Golden Hour are running a city-wide campaign to create awareness about head injuries. The thrust of this social campaign is to disseminate information that would help each of us to not only prevent head injuries but also respond to them effectively. Let us together pledge on this day to turn Bengaluru into a model of safety and thereby set off a nationwide movement that turns a dubious distinction into a distinction we can be proud of.

SOURCE : http://www.bfirst.in/category/bengaluru/headinjury-467711