Punjab health and family welfare minister said that they aimed at utilising golden hour after mishap and save as many lives as possible.
Published Sep 06, 2023 | 2:11 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 06, 2023 | 2:11 PM
Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh. (Supplied)
Taking a major step towards reducing fatalities in accidents, the Punjab government has decided to provide free treatment to all road accident victims within the first 48 hours of the mishap as part of the “Farishtey” scheme.
Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh while announcing the same on Tuesday, 5 September, said that they aimed at utilising golden hour after mishap to save as many lives as possible.
Golden hour is the first crucial hour after a road accident, during which if a seriously injured person is given critical care, the chances of survival will increase.
“Irrespective of domicile of the person, the Punjab government will treat all the road accident victims as one and will ensure free treatment at nearby hospitals including private hospitals during the first 48 hours of the accident,” Balbir Singh said adding that the treatment expenses incurred in first 48 hours would be reimbursed by the government.
Addressing the issue of people being scared to help accident victims, fearing legal hassle, Dr Balbir Singh said that anyone who takes road accident victims to the hospital for treatment would be honoured and rewarded with ₹2000.
“There will be no questioning, by police or hospital authorities, of people who bring the road accident victim to hospitals, until and unless they themselves want to become eyewitnesses,” added Singh.
The Punjab government is also establishing a system wherein all the ambulances, including government and private, would be linked with private taxi aggregators like Ola/Uber so that people in an emergency can avail ambulance services in less than 15 minutes.
The government will also identify government hospitals situated on the state highways to establish and activate the robust Critical Care Units (CCU) so that people can avail of world-class treatment at government health facilities.
The state is all set to become the first state in the country to introduce the “Sadak Surakhya Force”, a special team dedicated towards road safety, under which new hi-tech vehicles would be provided and a separate uniform has been designed for police personnel.
It may be noted that Punjab has a total road length of 76,000 km. Of this, 4,500 km of roads fall under the bracket of national and state highways.
Even though the national and state highways form only six percent of the total road length in Punjab, they account for 72 percent of all deaths causing accidents.
