The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it has started engaging relevant stakeholders on how to render initial assistance to victims on the scenes of road accidents across the country.
Mr Bitrus Samuel, Head, Abuja Area Operation Office of NEMA , who disclosed this to newsmen in Lokoja on Friday said that the partnership would cover training to boost the capacity of the staff of the stakeholders.
Samuel was shedding light on the training with the theme: ”Mass Casualty Handling In The ‘Ember Months” held in Lokoja for officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps, the Civil Defence Corps, the Red Cross , State Emergency Management Agency and others.
According to him, NEMA is initiating the efforts to support FRSC , being the leading agency for road traffic management in the country.
He said that the theme of the training ”Mass Casualty Handling In The ‘Ember’ Months,” was carefully chosen to drive home the importance of initial assistance to render to road crash victims at the scene of accidents in this festive period and beyond.
The official said that such initial assistance would largely determine whether the victims would survive or be subjected to permanent disability.
He then charged road emergency handlers to always ensure that assistance was rendered on time, appropriately and effectively in a way that would lead to the survival and preservation of health of victims.
” It is a common knowledge that accident victims needlessly die or are permanently confined to wheel chairs as a result of lack of initial care and unprofessional handling,” he said.
According to him, NEMA in line with its mandate will continue to coordinate resources toward efficient and effective disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response in Nigeria.
He also said that the agency would from -time to -time , bring stakeholders together for joint training and exercises to harness each other’s strength and close identified gaps.
”It is important to note that, in combating today’s threats, capabilities required go beyond those of any single agency.
”It entails interoperability and synergy of efforts through information sharing, expertise and resources in order to achieve the desired results,” Samuel explained.
He urged the participants to regard the training exercise as an avenue to contribute their quota to the reduction of suffering of Nigerians plying the roads.
Samuel also urged response agencies to regard the training as another opportunity to collaborate, share experiences and re-strategise to scale up their levels of preparedness and alertness for a better performance . (NAN)