Re: What to do in case of an accident What does one do in case of an non-travel/road accident you see happening on the streets?
To be honest, no clear idea. And even though we/I experienced it a few weeks ago, it still leaves a few questions unanswered.
We were in the local market area of Jayanagar, Bangalore, shopping for odd stuff, when in front of us, an aged, seemingly inebriated/dizzy old man, swayed a bit and fell flat on his back on the footpath, hitting his head on the pavement. Right in front of our eyes.
The man was out cold immediately, with blood oozing from the back of his head. There was no cause of his fall, he didn't slip or wasn't pushed by anyone else; he just seemingly lost consciousness and fell flat backwards. We waited for a while from afar, to see if he got up. A passerby tried calling out to him but got no response. Many others just walked by, only appalled by the scene of the blood that was oozing out of his head.
I asked the shop keeper if he was known - apparently not. Most probably a beggar, I was told. I walked out, looked around to see if there were any cops around and headed to the nearest junction. Found two traffic policemen and explained the situation and asked on what to do next. Thankfully, one of them quickly agreed to come with me back to the store entrance. I explained the situation to him on the way back, and he asked me to dial Emergency Services (112) to request for help as he wasn't the right person for this work.
The man was still on the floor, but somewhat (not fully) conscious as he was mumbling while still eyes shut. I got connected by the folks on the emergency line to the local police station and was asked few questions - condition of the individual, location, and sorts. I was told I'd be getting a call from a local emergency ambulance services soon and I should be informing them of the same. Within a few minutes, I got a call from them (seemingly a centralized support team) and I repeated the same details to them. I was further asked if I was related to the individual in question and I replied in the negative. They requested that I stay around till they reach (which the cops too had asked me on the call) and I assured them I'd stay around for a while. I was informed that I'd get a call soon from the ambulance as soon as they could locate a locally available ambulance (service).
Within the next 10 minutes, local police station cops arrived and the traffic policeman went back to his post. By now, the shopkeeper decided to get more active and he explained the situation to them. Either they woke up the man (or he got up on his own), I then saw them trying to converse with him in Kannada and to get more details from him. Thankfully the bleeding had stopped but I didn't see any first aid kit being offered/suggested.
Soon got a call from the centralized support (/ambulance) team asking me again if I was related to the individual and if I'd be waiting when they come to pick him up. I replied in the negative, now that the cops were here and the man was awake (I relayed this information to them). They cut the call after saying that they couldn't provide the ambulance service as there had to be someone along with the individual (I guess probably to account for the monetary cost).
By now, the man was sitting on the pavement, well awake and the cops had disappeared from sight. Not sure what else we could do, we moved out and started walking towards our next destination/shop. Ironically the same man, oblivious of my previous efforts, begged me for some money as I walked past him.
Last edited by ninjatalli : 10th December 2021 at 13:58.
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