mid-day editorial: Emergency services need attention

Just two months after it was opened, the Mrinal Gore flyover in Goregaon witnessed a deadly accident yesterday. An auto rickshaw driver lost control of his vehicle on the road, slick with rain. One of the passengers in his vehicle, a 58-year-old man lost his life after another vehicle rammed into the auto from behind and knocked it on its side.

Despite numerous warnings and simple common sense that the monsoon makes the roads particularly precarious, this auto driver was speeding leading to the passenger's tragic end. The car which rammed into the auto was also travelling at very high speed. If the speed was within limits, the driver could have at least avoided the collision or the impact would have been less. This is once again a huge warning for those who scoff at wisdom about keeping an eye on the speedometer in this season. Today, the driver too, has to live with the fact that a man has died and he has some share of the blame in the tragedy.

In the melee post accident, the auto driver fled from the spot, while other vehicle owners were still trying to call emergency services to help the man thrown out of the auto on his head. What is vital is that vehicle owners and relatives of the deceased then cite a number of problems, once they try to call an ambulance.

Some allege that it took a heartbreaking half an hour for help which is police, ambulance and traffic cops to arrive. Then, it states that when the ambulance arrived the doctor declared the man dead but refused to take him to the hospital as that service was not for the dead. One can only imagine the agony of the man's family as they pleaded for help and for the body to be taken to a medical facility.

Let us look towards improving our emergency response, in all kinds of disasters. Cutting down on reaction time, smoother co-ordination between all agencies and finally, the healing touch so as to bring some closure to those affected, it is towards this that we should strive, not the usual heartrending confusion that our responses are often mired in.