Sadia Aslam
Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad
Research Scholar
Post-Crash Response Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for road accidents that encompass the intervention from agencies like law administration, fire and rescue, emergency medical services, transportation units, towing, and recovery services are weak in Pakistan. At the same time, the role of these agencies is indispensable for timely response to save lives and inhibit roadblocks on national highways. The duty of the police is to control traffic, to investigate the causes of road accidents, and to manage crowds during road crashes. Additionally, the rescue department delivers spontaneous emergency treatment for road crash victims’ facilitation of ambulances and creates awareness among vehicle users about the existing traffic situation.
Emergency medical response for road crashes is pathetic in Pakistan. Additionally, when road crashes happen, the traffic on roads starts to block immediately. This also blocks the shoulder lanes that are meant for ambulances or fire brigades, thus intensifying the situation. Furthermore, road users are unaware of these facts and have no idea that keeping the route unoccupied for ambulances and fire trucks at road crashes site is significant.
According to section 61, Pakistan National Highway Safety Ordinance (2000) indicated that whenever a road crash happens, it is necessary to take all possible steps to provide emergency treatment for the injured and transport the victims to the nearby hospitals. It would be a state where the life of the victim is in danger and any negligence could cost a precious life. Clause (e) of this ordinance says to park the crashed vehicle on a side and establish warning signs so that it may not create difficulty and hazard for other road users on highways and motorways. Moreover, the control of law enforcement agencies cannot be seen in such situations. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the authorities to use various signs to warn vehicle users in road accident situations to take alternate routes and take necessary measures the way it happens in the USA.
The existing road safety Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and fines for violation of road safety rules and open interpretation ordinance exist in a documented form waiting to be implemented. In addition to the above, more clauses such as extracting road crash victims and transporting them to the hospitals are also not applied in Pakistan (Section 61(a) of National Highway Safety Ordinance 2000). In fact, road users are not aware of following road safety SOPs, due to the low performance of law enforcement agencies. The absence of sensitization and capability building of road users turns into “Good Samaritan Law,” the role of bystanders in road crashes subsequently hamper vehicle management and emergency response. Authorities in Pakistan do not realize the importance of post-crash response SOPs for road accidents. It directly affects the behaviors of the commuters. The existing SOPs are worthless and remnants on paper. There is an ambiguous allocation of responsibilities at federal, district, and provincial levels among road safety management.
