SHELL DONATES EXTRICATION EQUIPEMENT TO FRSC

As part of its support to strengthen the capacity of the Federal Road Safety Corps towards enhancing its rescue services, the management of the Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Limited (SNECO) has formally presented rescue equipment to the Corps to boost its live-saving drive for victims of road crash victims.

Speaking the formal handing over of the items, the Managing Director of SNECO, Mr. Chike Onyejekwe recalled several cases where road traffic crashes occur along some routes of the highways and most victims die or suffer life-threatening injuries due to unskilled manner of handling such victims by first responders to crash scenes.

According to him “Many victims of road crashes do not reach the hospitals but die at the scene of the crash. Only a few days ago, I read in the news that 34 people died in a road accident on the Rijau-Konotagoro road in Niger State. The accident involved 78 people with 34 reported dead on the spot, while 30 were injured”.

He added “It is unacceptable to have so many men, women and children dying unnecessarily from road crashes in our country. It is even more dismaying, because we all know road traffic crashes are preventable and if they do happen, death is not inevitable. According to the World Health Organization, road traffic injuries remain among the top ten causes of healthy years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death world-wide”.

Emphasizing on his organization’s Corporate Social Responsibility drive, Mr Onyejekwe said “We have focused on crash prevention through our own extremely strict internal road safety management systems and numerous physical improvements”.

He also said “we also do this through education and enlightenment programmes including road markings and road safety installations along roadways, provision of road safety and traffic management equipment to various state governments. We also donate motorcycle safety helmets and carry out motor park, roadway and media enlightenment campaigns for different road user groups. An example is the pedestrian safety awareness walk held by SNEPCO, in collaboration with the FRSC, which aimed to draw public attention to the rising pedestrian deaths in our nation”.

Also speaking, the Director of Trauma, Emergency and Disaster Management in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Joseph Amedu commended the management of Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Limited for supporting the FRSC multi-sectoral drive to road safety management in Nigeria and pledged the continued willingness of the Health Ministry to complement the Corps in its numerous strides to reverse the trend of road crash in the country.

In his response, the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Osita Chidoka said that “the FRSC has for long, conceived the idea of collaborating with first responders to road crash scene, particularly in crash-prone areas which have been identified along the highways”.

Chidoka also said “we observed that residents of these crash-prone areas in their desire to assist crash victims, end up using bare hands and also apply unskilled methods to assist victims before the arrival of FRSC personnel. 540 volunteers have been selected for the training programme slated for 24^th and 28^th March, 2014 along 27 designated corridors in 12 states of the federation”

The Corps Marshal also added that “the National Community Post crash Care Scheme Initiative will provide a veritable platform for tackling the challenges and restoring the hope of road users to the availability of prompt and appropriate post crash care”.

He further described the initiative as a national assignment that deserves the support of all well meaning Nigerians who are interested in the safety and well being of road users and reiterated the FRSC commitment to the success of the scheme, which would spread to other parts of the country.