RTC fatalities and First Aid

[crr003]

I recently sent off for a free handy St John Ambulance first aid guide.

In the letter that came with it, it said ".....our belief that no one should die because they needed first aid and didn't get it. But sadly, 150,000 lives are lost in this way every year."

DfT website states deaths from RTCs in 2008 were 2,538.

So, am I applying some kind of Pythonesque logic here, or shouldn't someone be focussing somewhere else for the "big/easy win"?

[Standard Dave]

I think the 150,000 figure relates to all accidental deaths and also things like medical conditions such as heart attacks and other things that could be helped by someone doing something.

The number of people killed on our roads is the approximatly equal to 4 or 5 large passenger aircraft crashing in the UK every year or a shooting spree like Cumbria every 3 or 4 days.

The home and work are of course far more dangerous that driving.

[JamesAllport]

The tragedy with deaths at RTCs is that the vast majority of those deaths are preventable with very, very simple techniques, mostly positional airway care. So giving people a tiny amount of very simple first aid knowledge might reduce the component of those 1500 deaths that comes from RTCs quite considerably.

[Susie]

IIRC, the German system for obtaining a full driving licence includes the requirement for completion of a First Aid Course - I think the system should be adopted (or at least encouraged) here but I doubt it'll happen

KRs

Susie

[Horse]

The tragedy with deaths at RTCs is that the vast majority of those deaths are preventable with very, very simple techniques, mostly . . .

Looking further ahead, slowing slightly more and slightly earlier, improving awareness . . . etc . . .

[JamesAllport]

Indeed.

But on the assumption that even monkeys fall out of trees...

James