Road accident awareness

Experts hinted at carelessness as one of the major reasons for road accidents at an awareness meet at Magadh Mahila College. Orthopaedic surgeon and patron of Bihar Orthopaedic Association R.N. Singh said: "People don't tend to provide primary medical care to victims, which could go a long way in saving their lives. Road accidents, apart from taking individual lives, also destroy the life of the family members of the victim. Many families lose their sole bread earner.

Another member of the association, Amulya Kumar Singh, talked about reasons behind accident deaths. "Most accident deaths happen because people do not wear helmets . People cover their cellphones to save it from scratches but don't wear helmets. Most of the fatal injuries reported in road accidents are related to brain. "Only wearing a helmet won't ensure safety to your head. Wearing a good quality helmet is also necessary because cheap helmets can easily be broken," said Amulya.

A 15-member team of National Disaster Response Force also trains students about the various medical procedures they can provide to accident victims.

"How to tie a bandage to stop bleeding, shock treatment, which involves heart pumping and mouth-to-mouth breathing, all these tips were given to students." said the deputy commandant of the National Disaster Response Force, Mahendra Singh.

Disaster management tips

The Bihar State Disaster Management Authority (BSDMA) on Thursday organised an inception workshop on the preparation of district disaster management plans.

Anil Kumar Sinha, the vice-chairman of the BSDMA, said the process of preparation of multi-hazard focused district disaster management plans had been initiated in all 38 districts of the state and nine agencies have been selected for the same. As an initial project exercise, these agencies have been asked to submit their inception report followed by making a presentation on the same.

"It is for the first time that Bihar is developing a multi-hazard focused district disaster management plans. It is the most important institution for disaster management as disasters are mainly local and their response is also primarily and predominantly local. There is a need to strengthen the district disaster management authorities and the implementing agencies should add value to it with their experience and expertise," Sinha said.

Kamal Kishore, member, National Disaster Management Authority, who was present on the occasion, said there was a need to have plans at national, state and locals levels. "Of the 675 districts in the country, around 510 have their disaster management plans but we need to understand how useful they are. There is always a need for continuous improvements in these plans," Kishore said.

P.N. Rai, director-general (fire services and homeguards) said the plans should be usable and focused.