Friday, March 29, 2024

Don’t take photos of road accident Victims-Doctors

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ZMA president Dr. Aaron Mujajati
ZMA president Dr. Aaron Mujajati

The Zambia Medical Association has advised the public to desist from taking photos of road accident victims.

Association President Aaron Mujajati said the dignity and privacy of accident victims must be preserved.
Dr Mujajati said the taking and circulation of pictures and videos when an individual is at their most vulnerable is one vice which should be avoided at all costs.

He was commenting on the recent hit-and-run road accident that almost cost the life of a female police officer in Lusaka.

Dr Mujajati said the incident has exposed inadequacies in the country’s emergency response services.

“The images shared on social media revealed initiatives by citizens who applied their own knowledge of dealing with an accident victim, which, although well intentioned, fall far short of recommended professional standards that ought to be applied in such instances,” Dr Mujajati said.

“For us as a nation to achieve equity of access to emergency health services for the citizenry, we need to look at innovative ways of resource mobilization.”

He said his association understands the current challenges faced by the emergency and rescue services and propose a resource mobilization vehicle.

“We propose the creation of the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund which will make resources available for mounting an emergency response. This fund needs the full participation of all stakeholders and citizens at large to actualize it. We believe this will help narrow the gap between the poor and the rich,” he said.

“We wish to call all key stakeholders to share ideas on how we can quickly address this matter and prevent needless deaths that may arise due to insufficient emergence response services. No one group or institution can singlehandedly resolve all the challenges associated with this problem. To our knowledge no call was made for an ambulance in the incident involving the police officer probably because these numbers are not readily available if they exist.”

He said “In most accidents, the first people to arrive on the scene are motorists. However, it was clear from the images on social media that the motorists that helped the victim knew nothing of First Aid. We suggest that before any motorist is offered a Driver’s License, they must undergo a “First Responders” training. This must be repeated on renewing the license. This could be staggered over a period of five years thereafter no new license would be issued without a “First Responders” Certification.”

“Further, we would like to advocate for the inclusion of First Aid in the curriculum for pupils from primary and throughout Secondary Education as a course of study so that as a country, we are able to respond correctly in times of emergencies. Such a move will make “First Responders” training affordable and sustainable.”

Dr Mujajati also called for the establishment of a digital database for professional drivers or a bureau, which should contain information on their driving record so that dangerous drivers or serial offenders are excluded from driving.

“Much like the credit bureau for lending institutions. If this sounds too harsh, it’s because the loss of human life is too painful to bear no matter how many times we have lost those we love.”

49 COMMENTS

    • This aaron mujajati is just one of the many noise makers we have. he’s trying to acquire publicity for nothing. if you have suggestions, why cant you do it quitely with ratsa and other institutions? moreover, you are just a junior doctor

    • Aaron should be appointed minister. We have said same so many times that these cell phones are abused in Zambia.
      And taking pictures at body viewing.

    • He is simply embarrassed at the lack of an Emergency Response Center in Zambia and the poor handling of accident victims ….. exposure leaves them with little lies to tell at international conferences and workshops

    • Useless chap Mujajati – instead of pressuring govt, which has ALREADY TAKEN TAX PAYERS MONEY to PROVIDE UP TO DATE HEALTH FACILITIES, & NOT WASTE FURTHER TAXPAYERS FUNDS AIRLIFTING Political patients who don’t deserve to be airlifted, HE IS ST..U..PID.LY ADVOCATING FOR ANOTHER TAX HIT!!! He is simply performing to the political gallery – stop annoying the already OVERTAXED, HUNGRY, UNEMPLOYED & DECEIVED POOR ZAMBIANS!!

    • The suggestion of tying a drivers licence to a certificate in first aid is a violation of my rights to drive a car. Why should every one be forced to to be a first aider. some people collapse at the sight of blood. What we need is an emergency ambulance service funded by local authorities and private companies just like the break down service.

  1. Thank You. It was disturbing seeing the pictures of the police officer all over social media. Disappointing that people had no sympathy for the victim, they shouldn’t have posted the video.

    • @Stranger, I was so disappointed that even LT who better that Muvi Tv could republish such a sorrowful video of honorable office. We didn’t even know reason, probably he had a mental breakdown.
      Zambians awe mwe…

  2. yes Dr we need to be educated on the same but on the other hand, we seem to learn only when citizens take such pictures. even for you Dr to come out like this, its because you saw those pictures which, though i agree with you that they should not be taken, has made us wake up from our collective slumber. i am not for or against what you are saying. its not good for the victim but may be good for taking future action. so why not set up a unit from Zambia Airforce/ZP and the Flying Doctor service/Rasta (sorry RATSA) to come up with this. the only thing that will work well for highways is a chopper/helicopter and for our town roads, we need good a good well resourced unit maybe housed under the fire brigade (the one that runs out of water nearly everytime)

  3. Wel said, it was so disturbing to see how the poor police officer was handled, it’s shameful, but the question that still lingers in my mind; there was no evidence of fellow police officers on the scene; and if they were present, it exposes a very big and worrying loophole that our nicely dressed traffic police officers on our roads and offices no NOTHING about BASIC FIRST AID…SHAME

  4. Nice one DR Mujajati, a real Doctor not like Cosmos or Nevers. Thats the kind of thinking we need from leaders. Seems like the Doctors picked for themselves a good leader.

  5. These are things which the blood red UPND thrive on. They enjoy misfortune, sickness and ill-will. Look at the celebrations they held in 2014 when HE Sata died. Look at how they rejoiced when Lungu fainted. So Mujajati talk to the serpent (HH), his media Zambian Witch Doctor and all his other blood drinking demons.

    • Only a Lucifer like Hichilema smiles at the site of blood. Why paint your regalia and party symbols with blood? These are people who think that their ill-gotten privatization wealth can save them. These are the henchmen the devil Satan uses to accomplish his evil works on earth. Look at how they celebrated about the Chibombo disaster. What does (HH) hide in his dirty Afro hair and why does he fail to go for circumcizion and why has he banned his children from cutting their hair? Why has he not circumcized his own children? What secret satamic pact has he signed them into? Why has he indoctrinated GBM into idolizing money? Mujajati you talk about accidents? Give that lecture to Hakainde and his media.

    • @Kudos
      Your cadreism amazes me. Some people even voted (+)for your comments. You are a disgrace to the late stone age guys like brokenhill man

  6. This article has enough to do this politicians, you guy are like kids. Please grow up or go back to school. Guess most of you are grade 9’s. Think before you write!

  7. Dr Mujajati what are you saying? While you seem to have learnt a lot from the amateur footage on social media, you are also trying to stop it. I think you should just have issued caution on how such data is shared. Otherwise in this age & era we so much depend on the amateur photographer. Some jurisdictions even allow such footage in court.

  8. To the contrary I think people should be encouraged to take photographs of such events for the purpose of providing factual evidence. If you left it to the incompetent and biased Zambia police, there would be no factual evidence and innocent people may end up being implicated

    • I am with you… I am so disappointed with the response of this Dr.. Please we need to appreciate the power of the media and it’s influence on development.. There was nothing wrong in taking a picture..the problem we face as a nation has been exposed. We need to work on that and for your own record, kids in school are learning first aid.. The health department just need to step up and connect with schools to boaster understanding…

  9. Mr Economist. Why do have to see Politics in everything? If you were the victim how would u like people to treat you after an accident? It’s quite unfortunate the sometimes we can be so un humane as to treat people like animals. I am not PF or UPND. I am a citizen who can vote for any Party with sound policies and vision for the country, so do not identify me with any party as is the tendency to identify people with political parties when they have different views with us.

  10. You are on the right track Doc. To be incisive; what we need is an emergency response unit that can get to accident victims by road or by air. Lifting of accident victims by other road users without the right equipment is risky and may exacerbate the condition. Many lives that have been lost on our roads would have been saved if we had paramedics initiating treatment right from the accident scene and on the ambulance or chopper to the hospital. It can be done.

  11. Pf govt is too corrupt, too preoccupied with the 11/ 8 elections to even think about the country’s emergency response services. The monies RATSA collects has no good accounting.

  12. ZMA havent you got more pressing issues like lobbying the govt to invest more in health care to reduce spending forex on medical tourists to RSA!

  13. Dr Mujajati you are right on this one. No one gets consent from an accident victim to take pictures of them in their helpless state. You cannot just take pictures of someone and begin circulating them without their consent. This is highly unethical and should be stopped. In ordinary real life situations, we do not just allow strangers to take pictures of us. We take offence of this. I find MUVI TV to also be one news source that is highly unethical in the manner they take pictures of accident victims, especially that these pictures are very graphic.

  14. Ngware, you are as lousy as Economist and Mr. Kudo. You all suffer from political phobia of any thing you read about. Actually I’m a staunchy PF and right now this is not the right blog for your comments.
    Dr. Mujajati is right on public transport drivers bureau, first responder training for public drivers and setting up of a medical emergency social fund. However, he has got it wrong on the use of social media in such medical emergencies. The same video could have been used to communicate and receive instructions from the emergency medical team had this country had this very important service. It could have even been used by motorists on site to ask for what first aid action they should take from medical professionals.

  15. Motor Vehicle Accident Fund will be another form of tax.Why introducing taxes when our payslips are toxic with taxes?I beg to differ because we have insurances that cover the victims of accidents.As at now,insurance is an obligation which every motorists need to abide by.You are being heartless to employees who sustain the national treasury through exorbitant taxes.How many things are we going to pay for as employees?Mind you the number of employees who contribute to national basket are very few.Why adding another burden to already milked Zambian workers.That Motor Accident Fund should not be entertained by well meaning Zambia.Let part of toll gate money cover for accident incidents.

  16. The main culprits on this insensitive behaviour is the Zambian media. I find it quite distasteful and disturbing that mature media groups like ‘The Post’ or tabloids like the ‘Watchdog’ constantly splash photos of accident victims, some even dead on their front stories. They do this without even warning readers – it’s not only insensitive but also barbaric. No respect to the victims and their families.

    Where I live reports about accident victims are usually accompanied by photos of their smiling faces or an image that has been blurred and cropped out.

    I’m not sure if it’s due to high levels of occurrences that has made people become insensitive and immune to feeling traumatised after seeing such images – like it’s ‘normal’ now. Why else would people circulate such…

  17. Why else would people circulate such images?

    The doctor has some valid points and suggestions, particularly on 1st aid being compulsory education in schools. I’m not sure about driving licence being linked to the first responders certificate but it’s not a bad idea at all.

    About drivers database, another good idea (I thought the database already exists?), but the problem is the corruption by the very cops. I agree though that we need a points system for the licences, where repeat offenders could potentially lose their licence. Again corruption and bribery are the real problem here.

  18. You are spot on people rash to take photos instead of providing first aid,the officer was badly bleeding but no attempt was made to arrest the bleeding.

  19. Dr too late the hero just wake up and know what to do. Be proactive rather than reactive. As an association what are you doing about such loser.

  20. Motor Vehicle
    Accident Fund can Br raised so easily, 1% of fuel bought should go towards the fund. The ambulances will be bought and the victims will be looked after.
    I thank you Dr. It’s time we spend on our community.

    Shonongo

  21. Good initiative,ZMA but the only problem you only voice out when there is a calamity…please push this now before you voice when there is another accident..

  22. The main issues and questions here, are; do we have emergency and rescue services as a country? If not, why? Do we have effective institutions dealing with road sense and traffic issues? Without these life saving institutional structures, there will continue to be more gruesome accident scenes. The matter of taking pictures is an off-shoot of this and also has a cultural, moral and responsibility dimension to it.

  23. Kudos to Zambia Medical Association,good initiative,
    but the only problem you only voice out when there is a calamity…please push this now before you voice when there is another accident..

  24. It will be interesting to know how many practicing doctors and nurses have basic life and trauma support in Zambia. So doc, right there is your starting point!

  25. 1) Do we really not have emergency numbers that anyone can call in case of medical emergency, fire or criminality? How are emergency services alerted by the public?
    2) The doctor seems to imply that it would have been better if this unfortunate situation was not brought to the attention of the masses.
    3) Anybody taking responsibility of the way this lady was treated?

    SHAMEFUL!

  26. Ndalama yama campaigns and bribing voters is always found, but money for emergency services is always in short supply.

  27. Its unfortunate that it had to go to such extent as to have someone injured badly. Learned doctor ought to know MURPHY’s law which states that if something has to happen it will happen. First aid is one thing but cannot be applied on a dead thing.

  28. HH Techilema

    I can see you are running mad , the article did not mention HH here , I wonder what you will do on 12th August when you will discover that your PF failed even to win a single seat in Lusaka.

  29. Dr A. mujajati,well said and I’m personally impressed.I was one of the people who saw that video.However,matter of this nature should not just end in mere talks.I suggest that(Re female police incident)
    1)The matter must be debated in parliament and immediate need to sensitise the nation on what to do and make the number available to call for emergencies.
    2)Zambian must learn to protest on issues like this if the people they voted to serve them aren’t using their brains to find solutions to make sure people are looked after as they should.This matter calls for the nation major outcry.
    3)Government must establish ambulance service with emergency call system which should respond to emergencies within the shortest period possible.
    4)Trained ambulance workers should be placed close to…

  30. Good piece of knowledge. However, introduction of a special fund will just be a maize field for a few gluttons. Mind you, Zambians are already overtaxed. For your own information, we reached the critical limit of taxation some years ago when people started contributing about 40% of their income to the treasury. Therefore, education is the most practical and sustainable way of achieving this. Take for instance the habit of police officers hiding behind trees and buildings just to rush on the road upon hearing the sound of an approaching vehicle moving at 80km/hr at a curve. This can lead to an incident like the one under discussion.

  31. Pooooor Doctor what is there to hide when you have failed to improve on emergency facilities and I guess if some one was going to call for emergency to help the victim of the RTA it was going to come after five hours. Stop complaining the way the victim was handled because if any of you medical personnel were to be called am sure non of you would have come to her aid in good time.
    On the issue of taking pictures and videos let this trend continue because one people stop taking the picture you the same medical personnel’s and the police officers you will go to sleep and no one will push the GRZ to improve on RTA response.
    The same lady police officer was she just alone on the road or she had some other work mates? I ask because from the video or the picture I did not see any other…

  32. This Doctor is another cadre. He thinks the Police will spare him. While condemn this after the PF police woman was shown being helped by well wishers and non of her colleagues. The video just showed that the Police wanted to avoid being captured as the road block was a purely fund raising venture.

  33. He is very right. Why do you want to take pictures of people who are not even your relatives? Leave that to reporters ala!

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