First Aid at a Road Crash: What to Do Until Help Arrives

After a serious crash, the first people at the scene are almost never doctors. They are other drivers, riders and passers-by. What they do in the first few minutes, before the ambulance arrives, often decides whether an injured person lives. You do not need to be trained to help: you need to keep yourself safe, call for help and do a few simple things well. Indian law protects you when you do.

What the law says

• Drivers involved in a crash must take reasonable steps to get medical attention for anyone injured, including taking them to the nearest doctor or hospital, unless that is not practicable, for example because of mob fury (Section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988; Regulation 29 of the Motor Vehicles (Driving) Regulations, 2017).
• Good Samaritans are protected: a person who, in good faith and without expecting reward, gives emergency medical or non-medical help at the scene or takes the victim to hospital is not liable in civil or criminal law for any injury or death caused by their negligence in helping (Section 134A).
• Your rights as a helper: under the Good Samaritan rules notified in 2020, you must be treated with respect, you do not have to give your name or personal details unless you choose to, and if you informed the police or took the victim to hospital you cannot be made to do anything more. If you agree to be a witness, you are examined only once.
• Hospitals must treat: the Supreme Court has held that doctors and hospitals must give immediate treatment to injured accident victims without waiting for police formalities (Parmanand Katara v. Union of India, 1989).
• Treatment is cashless: road-accident victims can get cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh at a designated hospital for up to seven days after the crash, under the scheme made under Section 162 (see Emergency vehicles, breakdowns and crashes).

Step 1: make the scene safe

• stop well clear of the crash, switch on your hazard lights and put out a warning triangle if you have one (Rule 12);
• wear something bright, and keep yourself and others off the carriageway as far as possible. On a highway, stand behind the crash barrier;
• switch off the engines of the crashed vehicles if you can do so safely, and do not let anyone smoke. Watch for leaking fuel or gas; and
• do not become a second casualty. If the scene is not safe to enter, call for help and warn traffic.

Step 2: call for help

Call 112 (emergency), or 108 for an ambulance in most States. Say exactly where you are (road, direction, kilometre stone, landmark, or share your phone's location), how many people are hurt, whether anyone is trapped, unconscious or not breathing, and whether there is fire or fuel leaking. Do not hang up until they tell you to.

Step 3: check and help the injured

1. Talk to them: ask "Can you hear me?" and gently tap the shoulder. A person who answers is breathing.
2. Breathing: if they do not respond, look at the chest, listen and feel for breath for no more than 10 seconds. If the airway is blocked, tilt the head back gently by lifting the chin, but move the head and neck as little as possible.
3. Not breathing: start chest compressions: heel of one hand in the centre of the chest, the other hand on top, arms straight, press down 5 to 6 cm, about 2 times a second (100 to 120 a minute). Keep going until help arrives or they start breathing. If the emergency operator guides you, follow them.
4. Breathing but unconscious: if you must leave them or they may choke on vomit or blood, roll them gently onto their side (the recovery position), keeping the head, neck and back in line.
5. Heavy bleeding: press firmly on the wound with a clean cloth, handkerchief or your hand, and keep pressing. Do not remove anything stuck in the wound; press around it.
6. Burns: cool the burn with clean, cool water for at least 10 minutes. Do not apply toothpaste, oil or ice, and do not pull off clothing stuck to the skin.
7. Shock: keep them warm, calm and still. Talk to them and tell them help is coming.

What not to do

• do not move an injured person unless they are in danger from fire, traffic or water. Moving them can turn a neck or back injury into paralysis;
• do not remove a rider's helmet unless it is essential to keep them breathing. If you must, support the head and neck and take it off slowly, ideally with two people;
• do not give food or water: they may need surgery, and they may choke;
• do not pull people out of vehicles unless there is fire or another immediate danger; wait for trained rescuers; and
• do not crowd or film the injured. Keep onlookers back and give them space and dignity.

Taking someone to hospital yourself

If an ambulance cannot come quickly and the person is seriously hurt, taking them to the nearest hospital yourself can save a life in the first hour (the golden hour). Support the head and neck, keep them as still as possible and drive carefully. Under the Good Samaritan guidelines approved by the Supreme Court in 2016 (Save Life Foundation v. Union of India), you should not be detained at the hospital or asked to pay for the victim's treatment. The Centre's Rah-Veer scheme has also offered a cash award of ₹25,000 to people who take seriously injured victims to hospital within the golden hour; ask the hospital or police whether it is running in your State.

Be prepared

• keep a first-aid kit in your vehicle: gloves, sterile dressings, bandages, a clean cloth, scissors, antiseptic and a torch. Replace what you use;
• take a short first-aid course, offered by groups such as the Indian Red Cross Society and St John Ambulance. A few hours of training is one of the most useful things a driver can do; and
• save 112 and a family contact in your phone, and keep your blood group and any medical condition on a card in your wallet.

Common mistakes

Remember