The Ghana Red Cross Society logo
The Ghana Red Cross Society is advising the general public against eating in vehicles while embarking on journeys.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the society, Captain Adabuga, said the practice poses a threat to lives when the car is involved in a crash.
According to him, when the misfortune happens, the person taking in the food is likely to be overlooked and the attention directed towards another who may not need immediate help.
The reason is that “you could be lying on the ground alive but be reckoned as dead because you are not breathing; the food has blocked your airway because you could not swallow it as a result of the impact of the crash”.
He, therefore, urged travellers to avoid eating while onboard moving vehicles to protect their lives.
That said, Captain Adabuga stressed the need for public sensitization to educate the public on how to administer first aid to victims of crashes when they find themselves at the scene of the incidents before the arrival of health experts.
“I wish drivers and people who chance upon the scenes were knowledgeable in first aid. If they know, then drivers who chance upon the scene can help relieve some victims. First aid is very important.
“Those who meet the victims at the point of a crash can open their airways. Sometimes the victims are not dead; it is just a matter of opening their airway to breathe to come back alive, else they would all be counted as dead.”
He made this observation on the Anopa Bofoↄ morning show hosted by Kofi Adoma Nwanwani.
His comments came in the wake of a recent gory crash that occurred on Friday, January 13, 2022, at Ekumfi Bogyano on the Accra highway involving a vehicle with registration number GR 6201- 21, believed to be carrying some 23 passengers.
The crash, according to sources, occurred when the Mercedes Benz bus’ back tyre got burst while speeding, causing the vehicle to somersault several times and eventually crash into a tree on the side of the road.
According to the information provided, seven persons have lost their lives in the process, while the rest have been conveyed to the hospital to receive treatment for the injuries sustained.