what's legal? - Motorcycling Matters

KEY POINTS
• Safety first – stop where it is safe
and you are visible to traffic
• Assess the scene before approaching
• Are there casualties? Call the
emergency services – use the CRASH
card advice to give the emergency services
the information they need.
• Offer reassurance to injured and uninjured
people involved.
• Administer first aid if necessary to control
bleeding and keep injured casualties breathing
• Do not move casualties or remove crash
helmets to avoid any further injury to the
spine or neck, unless absolutely necessary.
This takes training and more than one person.
essential to save a life. Their collision
investigators treat a crash scene in the
same way as a crime scene and will need
to collect evidence from the scene,
including where the vehicles came to a
halt, for their investigation.
Getting help
You will need to contact the emergency
services if people are injured, if the
incident is creating the risk of additional
incidents, if the road is partially or fully
blocked, or if there is risk of fire or
explosion. In these circumstances, call
them at the earliest opportunity.
Contacting the emergency services can
seem daunting, but their
call handlers are trained
to make it as easy as
Stephen Thomas and
his Yamaha Diversion
FIRST AT THE SCENE
possible and offer advice when necessary.
As soon as your call is connected from any
phone, your general location can be
identified and appropriate resources will
be despatched. The call handler will then
ask questions to identify the exact location
– be as specific as you can, giving
landmarks such as pub names if necessary.
Riding on country roads is enjoyable,
but knowing where you are is important.
How else will the emergency services know
where you are? If you use a mobile phone,
the emergency services can trace your
location, but this takes time, so the more
specific you can be, the better.
On a motorway or major trunk road use
the emergency telephones at the side of
the road to allow the rapid identification of
the location. You will then answer a
number of other questions to help clarify
the nature of the incident, the number of
casualties and whether other emergency
services are required. The control centre
will contact the other emergency services if
required, so you only need to make one
call. If there are other bystanders, their
assistance can be invaluable. For example,
one person can call for help while another
is reassuring casualties. Just remember that
when making use of other bystanders it is
important not to put their safety at risk.
Uninjured people
If any of the people involved are
uninjured, ask them to move away from
the incident to a place of safety. When
dealing with anybody involved in an
incident it is important to provide
reassurance at what is a distressing time,
and to keep them warm. Whilst it is good
to unclutter the accident scene, it is
important that they do not leave the scene
as they could be witnesses.
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BECOME FIRST-AID
PROFICIENT
If an accident victim's airway is blocked, they
can die in three or four minutes. An
ambulance can take longer than this to arrive
at the scene, so the benefit of as many people
as possible having First Aid skills is obvious.
St John Ambulance Emergency
Aid for Motorcyclists
The St John Ambulance independent charity is
the UK's main provider of First Aid training
courses. They run an Emergency Aid for
Motorcyclists half-day course in Bedford and
Luton, and have 250 venues across the
country. This half-day course costs £42.50.
There is also an extended First Aid course run
as an evening class at Redbourne School,
Ampthill.
Website: http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/
Tel: 08700 10 49 50
British Red Cross
The British Red Cross also offers five First Aid
courses for members of the public. The fourhour
'Emergency Life Support' course, for
example, is focused on treatment for victims
with shock and significant blood loss, and
covers resuscitation (CPR) and how best to
deal with unconscious people.
Find out about this, and the other courses,
including certificated ones, by calling
0844 871 8000 or seeing www.redcross.org.uk
BBC
The BBC provides plenty of information online
about First Aid, with many on-line pages
about procedures to follow should you come
across someone who needs help. It then
offers you an online course where you answer
questions and then find out how ready (or not)
you are to offer First Aid. The site also lists
some important misconceptions about First
Aid. Find out more at
www.bbc.co.uk/health/first_aid
CARRY THE CRASH CARD
Carry a CRASH card and encourage your fellow
riders to do the same. If you are first at the
scene, the simple steps on the card will help
you get emergency support to the scene as
quickly as possible. And if you are a casualty,
then the personal information you provide will
assist paramedics in giving you the treatment
you need. Hopefully no-one will ever need to
use the CRASH card, but even just carrying it
could help riders think about their own safety.
To request a card call 01234 716333 or email
info@motorcyclingmatters.org.
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