Bhubaneswar: Oakridge International School students have launched an awareness programme ‘Give Way to Ambulance’ asking the public to make way for the passage of ambulances and not obstruct them in traffic to save patients’ lives.
Besides raising awareness among family, friends and the neighbourhood, the students are also approaching influential people from various walks of life and requesting them to take the pledge on further generating public awareness about the subject.
As part of the initiative, TV Nalineekanth (Oakridge employee) has met Satyajit Mohanty, Commissioner of Police Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, and explained the importance of giving way to the ambulance as every four minutes of delay drastically reduces the survival chances of serious victims from 70% to 7% as every second counts.
Taking the pledge and speaking on the occasion, Satyajit Mohanty said, “I congratulate the students of Oakridge, for such a good social initiative and I appreciate the effort for creating awareness and educating the public, as saving time is saving lives.” I myself will make the effort, in educating more people about giving way to the ambulance.
Elaborating on the awareness campaign, Director of Oakridge International School Nalin Srivastava, said: “In March-end, cricketer VVS inaugurated this campaign at the school premises where 750 students from Class, I to 10 came forward to raise awareness among the public. The students have enthusiastically volunteered for the campaign and observed about the delays in ambulance movement due to traffic, spoken to hospital management and victims’ families, traffic department and ambulance drivers and found that the survival rate of patients being carried in ambulances in around 70% and the ‘golden hour’ (time taken for the patient to reach the hospital and commencement of treatment from the time the accident or ailment struck) can save many lives.”
