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on an ambitious initiative to reduced deaths from road accident deaths by mobilising fellow doctors and other stakeholders to a meeting on how to save lives.
The forum, according to Dr Ndebele, is aimed at sharing and exchanging ideas on what must be done to save life within the minimum possible time in the event of an accident.
Dr Ndebele’s initiative comes at the backdrop of an upsurge in the number of people dying from road accidents.
According to the police, 228 people died in 1 476 accidents that happened during the festive season.
Dr Ndebele said he was inviting stakeholders to a meeting to address some of the issues that could be done to avoid losing lives unnecessarily during accidents.
He said some of the road accidents deaths could have been avoided, only if there was swift intervention.
“I have thought of mobilising stakeholders, especially in the Midlands, who include the police, the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) and the local authority to share notes on actions to be taken when road and other accidents occur. We have been losing lives some of which could have been saved in road accidents and as a nation we should act. I thought this should start with the Midlands,” he said.
Dr Ndebele said laws that were supposed to be followed like the need to wait for the police when an accident occurs, were contributing to some of the deaths.
“I experienced one nasty accident myself when I found members of the public watching a person dying while they were waiting for the police to arrive at the scene.
“When I tried to render first aid on the victims, I was rebuked by members of the public who all thought it was a crime for a person to render assistance to people in the absence of the police. These are some of the misconceptions that I think need to be addressed if we are to reduce deaths on our roads,” he said.
Dr Ndebele said the meeting with the various stakeholders was also going to discuss issues that need to be done by the responsible authorities and members of the public in the event of an accident.
“There is also this culture that people should leave the vehicles involved in an accident at that spot no matter how dangerous it is to other motorists, until the police arrive. This has created more fatal accidents especially on curves or blind rises,” he said.
Dr Ndebele said the meeting, which has received an overwhelming response, was scheduled for this Saturday in Gweru.
Online Reporter