Surakshit Bharat Is Our Mission
When we train people in First Aid protocols, indirectly they also learn how fragile our body is which needs care and concern at all times.
What is your vision and mission for Life Saving?
In short SURAKSHIT BHARAT. In light of our losing over half a million lives mostly of the youth, RLSS (India) has been pursuing ideas to contain this attrition. The answer came in the way of empowering people with ‘lifesaving’ skills so that they may confidentially attend to victims of accidents & drowning. We are compassionate people and wish to help a person in distress but hesitate to stop and help due to a lack of confidence in doing so. Learning skills to help a person gives them that confidence and ability. The process of learning also warns people of the danger in their activity of recklessness in their daily life be it on the road or in water bodies.
“When we train people in First Aid protocols, indirectly they also learn how fragile our body is which needs care and concern at all times.”
What are the key initiatives of the Rashtriya Life Saving Society (India) for awareness of health & safety?
In its training programs of First Aid, RLSS (India) teaches 30 protocols which cover most of the emergency situations that one may have to face on land. We have a similar training program for water bodies which is the rescue & revival of a drowning victim. RLSS (India) has trained almost half a million first responders, first aiders, lifesavers, lifeguards, and so on. It was the lack of CPR awareness which caused the death of 28 school children on 19th November 1997 which received a special focus and impetus to train almost a million people with the ability to administer Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) which is needed whenever there is an interruption in breathing such as during heart attack, stroke or an unconscious person recovered from the water.
What are the main reasons for the increasing number of accidents on land and drowning in India?
Lack of ability to understand and recognize danger, particularly among the youth of our country. I certainly do not wish our young to be timid but they must recognize the lurking dangers all around and avert them to be safe. This is being clever and not timid. When we train people in First Aid protocols indirectly they also learn how fragile our body is which needs care and concern at all times. The increasing number of fast machines, doting parents who present them to their teenagers but fail to impress upon them to drive safely, lack of road sense and rules of the road; improved highways and expressways and a ‘devil may care’ attitude of the youth. Similar situations are faced at numerous water bodies too. Merely being a good swimmer does not make a person capable of saving a drowning victim and can often result in double tragedy. People living near water or taking part in water sports must know ‘life saving techniques’ as only then can they keep themselves safe and help a drowning victim.
What are the challenges to empowering underprivileged local youth to guide life saving skills?
Most of our activity has been addressing the urban population. The Society is now in the process of introducing the ‘Village Bus Project’ which will address the rural community by empowering them with lifesaving skills on land and in water. The bus with 2 trainers /operators will travel from village to village in the districts reaching out to the village population. This is a unique program which has received some support from the corporate sector and needs central & state govt. support to be extended throughout the country.
What are your expectations from the State Govt. for the expansion of your social work?
For the past 24 years, Society has worked on its own, empowering people with lifesaving skills as stated above. Unfortunately, the State has not supported the work we have done for over two decades. I appreciate that child welfare, women empowerment, and employment protection are important ventures, but to my mind safety and preservation of life are more important than any other venture. Living safely and cleanly is an important aspect that needs the support of the Centre & State Govt. particularly now that RLSS (India)’s reach is increasing to every state and union territory by registering them as RLSS State Associations under Section 8 of the Companies Act 2013.
