Saving Lives with First Aid Skills, Despite Barriers in Society

I saw a blog headline titled: “Arms Folded…”  The blog story was about an accident that happened where 3 casualties were at the point of death. But no one was doing anything practically to save their lives, aside wailing, with arms folded and on their heads.

Recently, on my way to work in a public bus, a man had epileptic fit and fell and landed on one of the bus seats. Guess what happened!  Everyone who stood near this casualty stood back, arms folded and not doing anything for the dying man.  The woman whose front the man fell on, jumped on her seat and everyone in the bus was screaming.  The bus driver and some individuals suggested that the unconscious man should be dropped at the Ojota bus stop, so that the trip can continue. I know you may be wondering what kind of insensitive action is that? I know that you that is reading this article might have experienced or witnessed a situation like this before.  The question that arises from scenarios like this is: Why do by-standers hold back from helping in such life threatening situations? It is a function of a number of factors. For this man who experienced epileptic fit, people avoid touching the victim of epilepsy due to the myth that epilepsy is contagious.  But this disease is not contagious.  It is an “electrical disturbance of the brain”.  It is not caused by a virus.  Therefore, it is not transferable.  That aside, the factors below also make the public to withhold providing first aid to vulnerable individuals: Factors like:

• Not having the required knowledge and skills
• Not being confident
• And the biggest reason I have always been told during my training sessions, is the fear of be arrested or victimized by the Police.  The individuals who make this statements are so specific about the unprofessional conduct of some our law enforcement officers.

The above barriers are not supposed to prevent individuals (good Nigerians) from saving the lives of their fellows. For someone who does not have the knowledge and skills, all that is required is to enroll for a First Aid training.  This will also help to give you confidence to help when the need arises.

Regarding the fear of being victimized by law enforcement agents (Police), this is an unfortunate thing that has been happening in Nigeria, which has led to the death of accident victims and undue suffering of good Nigerians who attempted to help.  Fact is, there is no reason why I should be victimized, arrested or charged for rendering first aid to a fellow.  The Police and indeed, all law enforcement agencies should be aware of this fact and protect anyone who willingly tries to save someone’s life. I also believe that if the Police and other such agencies are trained in First Aid and other emergency response skills, this awareness will give them more impetus to protect first aid providers and as well join in saving victims of life-threatening emergencies. 

The federal government can invest in this reorientation for the Police so that they can be really our friends during accident and sudden illness situations.  At such incidents, while it is important to identify the wrongdoer (if any), the life of casualties should be prioritized by providing immediate first aid and evacuating them to the nearest medical facility. The Police should not be a barrier to saving lives in Nigeria.  In that case, the Police and the by-stander first aid provider will be heroes at the end of the day. And the country’s reputation will be affected positively.

Having identify the above challenges, I and other emergency response professionals are advocating that we should help to save lives when people’s lives are in danger despite the obstacles. You can do first aid and you will not be victimized by anybody.  We advise that you do some assessment of the scene before you help so that your assistance will be done safely and with the best results.  I recommend that you do the following:

• Recognize that there is an emergency that requires your action.
• Decide to act.
• Assess the scene for any dangers to yourself as the first aid provider. Such dangers such as objects that can harm you, fumes in the air, individuals who could harm you and much more.
• Call the emergency services (e.g. 767 or 112).  Get help from others.  Please get other people involved.  Although majority may be hesitant, but a good Nigerian among them will join hands to help.  It will be more difficult for a group of helpers to be victimized than when it is only you.
• Properly identify yourself.  Use your work I.D. card. If you have had first aid training or you are a medical professional, you can mention that. But even if you are not trained, you can act within your bounds to help casualties.
• Ascertain if the person is breathing or not (the person has signs of life).
• Provide your assistance.  But please do not go beyond your level of training.  As a first aid provider, you are not a doctor or nurse.  So do not assume a doctor’s role please.

You can do all these and be someone’s hero someday.  If lack of knowledge and skills is your obstacle against providing help, please register for our online first aid training by following the link below and you will be glad you did.