VIZIANAGARAM: To ensure first aid service on the spot to the road accident victims and also to shift them to nearby hospitals, Vizianagaram police have taken up an innovative approach by introducing first aid bikes in the district. Though there are 108, highway ambulance and other emergency service vehicles for the cause, police introduced the first aid bikes to reach out to accident victims immediately even in traffic snarls. In the initial phase, police launched six bikes - four in Vizianagaram and two at Bhogapuram. Two trained policemen will take charge of one bike each in their jurisdiction daily. Besides the first aid service, policemen on the first aid duty must also conduct patrolling in their police station limits.
As many as 281 deaths and 765 injury cases were reported in the road accidents last year while there were 290 deaths and 915 injured cases in 2016 and 285 fatalities and 926 injury cases were reported in 2015 in the district.
"To regulate traffic in the city as well as to perform the first aid service on the spot to the road accident victims, we thought of introducing bikes to conduct patrolling as well as first aid service," said Vizianagaram SP G Pala Raju. On the first aid bikes, he said that the bikes were specially redesigned for the purpose and are equipped with first aid kits, public address system and GSP tracking system. He also said the bikes were donated by a company under its corporate social responsibility (CSR). He also said that they promised to contribute more bikes for traffic regulation as well as the first aid services in future.
Each bike costs around Rs 1.23 lakh and is redesigned for dual purposes of ambulance and patrolling, he added.