During emergencies, a lot of people use private vehicles rather than waiting for an ambulance, which is not at all advisable. No matter how severe the injury or how eager we are to help. We shouldn’t rush into a scene of an emergency and try to shift the patient or the casualty.
In this article, we’ll tell you why it is unwise to shift patients with private vehicles.
1. Lack of knowledge about handling emergencies.
Most of the time, we don’t know anything about emergencies. Let’s take a road accident, for example, we don’t know what the condition of the casualty is, maybe he had a spine injury during the accident. If we shift the patient with our limited skills, there are very high chances we are doing more harm to the casualty. Even if you’re a trained first aider it is not advisable to shift the patient using a private vehicle.
Every emergency ambulance has a paramedic who knows how to handle the patient. So always during an emergency, wait for the ambulance.
2. Ambulances are equipped to transport casualties, our vehicles are not.
They are specifically designed to cater to a patient, it’s a moving emergency center. Ambulances are equipped with Stretchers, Defibrillators, Ventilators, and many life-saving instruments.
How many times we’ve heard someone passed away while shifting to hospital. So many times right? Maybe they would’ve stood a chance if an ambulance was involved.
3. Traffic control.
If the accident happened inside a city and we are trying to shift the patient as quickly as possible, we’ll inevitably run into traffic but using ambulances solve this problem.
Every minute matters while saving a life, imagine getting stuck in some traffic while shifting an emergency casualty. Always call an ambulance.
4. Lack of knowledge about hospitals.
All the hospitals you find are not equipped to treat all sorts of emergencies. Let’s say you’re shifting a pregnant lady with complications but you don’t know which hospitals handle pregnancy emergencies.
You’ll be wasting a lot of time in the Golden hour which might prove to be fatal for the patient.
5. Quicker hospital admissions
Let’s say you reached the hospital, but you still have no idea where to go or whom to contact. Ambulance operators know exactly where to go.
As I said earlier, every minute matters during emergencies, so think before acting impulsively.
All that said and done, when the real emergency happens it’s our primary instinct to take the casualty to the hospital as quickly as we can, and it’s a good one. We need to be sensible and more organized in these times more than ever.
If at all the emergency is severe or there are no ambulances around. Do proceed with a private vehicle. Before that learn first aid, especially if you’ve someone in your family who are prone to medical emergencies, please learn basic first aid.