FAISALABAD: It is a common practice in our society that when someone gets injured, people gather around and ask the person to stand up and try to walk. In some cases, however, doing so could lead the person who has fallen to suffer a permanent disability. For instance, injury in a person’s neck or spinal cord could be such that it requires treatment only from a trained medical professional and an ordinary bystander may not know how to deal with it.
People should ask the victim whether he is experiencing any pain in his neck or backbone. If the victim says yes to either, and even if there is no visible sign of any injury, it is best to not move that person. If a person who has been injured in this manner has to be moved or shifted, it should be done by trained paramedics. The Rescue 1122 staff do provide training for this or it can be learnt from a trained doctor. If you cannot help the victim properly, please do not move him in any direction. Just remove the rush of people around him and try to immobilise him and call the emergency service. This could mean the difference between that person’s life and death.
M Khurram Yasin
Member, Community Training Wing
Rescue 1122
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2012.
