New first aid scheme aims to cut road deaths

Road safety training organisation Driver First Assist has launched Skills for Safer Journeys – a new online training course which could dramatically improve safety for the millions of public and private sector employees who regularly drive for work.

With more deaths occurring from at-work road travel than in the workplace itself, Driver First Assist believes its new initiative will give all drivers crucial skills to support at the scene of an on-road incident, regardless of the type of vehicle they drive.

The 90-minute online course – which can be completed in stages – teaches how to make critical decisions using the principles of dynamic risk assessment, safely park at the scene of an incident, gather crucial information for the emergency services, make the perfect 999 call and provide first-aid assistance prior to the arrival of paramedics. Driver First Assist CEO David Higginbottom said:

Last year there were 1,633 fatalities from road collisions in Great Britain – the equivalent of more than three ‘superjumbos’ falling out of the sky. In too many cases, the victims didn’t die because of the collision. They died as the first people on scene didn’t know what to do.

We want to help employers meet their health and safety obligations by giving drivers the skills they need to be safer on the road. Health and safety law does not end at the factory, office or warehouse gate. When someone drives for work, the roads become an extension of the workplace, even if they are driving a personal vehicle for business purposes.

A World Health Organisation report on road traffic injury prevention found that within high-income countries, 50 per cent of deaths from road traffic crashes occur within minutes of the incident happening. It pointed out those who are present or who arrive first at the scene of a crash can play an important role in contacting the emergency services, securing the scene to prevent further incidents and applying first aid. It found many deaths from airway obstruction or external haemorrhage could have been avoided with help from bystanders trained in first aid. Death from a blocked airway typically occurs in about four minutes, while NHS England’s target time for an ambulance to arrive if the call is life threatening is eight minutes.

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