Ensure that your car or vehicle is a short distance away from the site of
accident and parked well off the road. Make sure that the passing traffic is ware that an
accident has occurred by putting a red warning triangle or signal (red cloth etc) about
200 yards (65 meter) from the site of accident. Any onlooker can be employed as a traffic
controller, and may help to divert the traffic in an emergency.
Check
that the vehicles are safe - switch off the ignition, apply breaks and if possible, put
the car in gear. Extinguish any smoke coming from the vehicle. Leave victims in position,
unless fire is a risk. Trying to pull the victim out can only waste valuable time and even
exacerbate existing injuries. The rescue services have special tools to cut people out of
damaged vehicles and this difficult task should be best left to them.
Look for
victims who have been thrown well clear of vehicles, e.g. into ditches or over hedges.
Establish an order of priority treatment.
Treat
victims in order of priority. Deal with breathing, bleeding and unconsciousness in that
order. Move victims as little as possible.
Don't
smoke anywhere near the location of the car crash. Leaking petrol may catch fire.
Send
first available person for emergency services, giving information about location, number
of cars and injured and types
of injury.
While
your are waiting for the emergency services, try to discourage other motorists and
passerby from hanging around, unless they can offer expert help.
Stay with
the accident victims, until the ambulance arrives. Watch them carefully to ensure that the
breathing does not stop, bleeding does not ensue and no one loses consciousness. Try to be
reassuring.
Take
advantage of any spare time to gather information to help the emergency services. Collect
a list of names and addresses from the least inured victims and take a note of the vehicle
number plates. Give all this to the police or ambulance men when they arrive. You should
also give a thorough account of any first aid measures that you have taken.