With an aim to make maximum use of the ‘Golden Hour’ to save precious lives of road accident victims, the Punjab government has decided to provide free treatment to all road accident victims within the first 48 hours of the mishap as part of the “Farishtey” scheme, said health and family welfare minister Dr Balbir Singh here on Tuesday.
Golden hour is the first crucial hour after a road accident, during which time if a seriously injured person is given critical care, their chances of survival increase highly.
“Irrespective of domicile of the person, the state government will treat all road accident victims as one and will ensure free treatment at nearby hospitals, including private hospitals, during the first 48 hours of the accident,” he said, while adding that the treatment expenses incurred on the treatment in first 48 hours will be reimbursed by the government. He was addressing the inauguration session of two-day workshop and training on road safety organised by Lead Agency on Road Safety at MGSIPA here. The minister was accompanied by Lead Agency on Road Safety director general R Venkat Ratnam, ADGP (traffic) Amardeep Singh Rai and state transport commissioner Moneesh Kumar.
Sharing details about the forthcoming flagship “Farishtey” scheme, the health minister said anyone taking the road accident victim to the hospital for treatment will be honoured and rewarded with ₹2,000. There will be no questioning by police or hospital authorities from the person, who brought the road accident victim to the hospital, until he himself wants to become an eyewitness, he added. He also exhorted people to ‘give way to ambulance’ and always keep a ‘first aid kit’ in their vehicles, as this small initiative could save one’s or someone’s life.
{{/usCountry}}Sharing details about the forthcoming flagship “Farishtey” scheme, the health minister said anyone taking the road accident victim to the hospital for treatment will be honoured and rewarded with ₹2,000. There will be no questioning by police or hospital authorities from the person, who brought the road accident victim to the hospital, until he himself wants to become an eyewitness, he added. He also exhorted people to ‘give way to ambulance’ and always keep a ‘first aid kit’ in their vehicles, as this small initiative could save one’s or someone’s life.
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