With over 27,000 people killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads last year*, we are taking part in this year’s Road Safety Week (14-20 November 2022) to raise awareness of the steps we can all take to make our roads safer.
Led by charity BRAKE, the 2022 Road Safety Week campaign is SAFE ROADS FOR ALL – because every life on our roads matters, and every death and injury is preventable.
Our crews are dispatched to attend the most serious Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs) and bring the emergency room to the roadside. So far this year, our crews have been called to over 800 incidents on the roads, approximately 30% of our missions.
We’re urging people to remember that road safety is everyone’s responsibility, whether we drive, cycle or walk. They are taking the opportunity during Road Safety Week to remind people to:
- Adhere to speed limits when driving
- Drive slowly and take extra care when there is poor visibility, or the roads are icy
- Wear visible clothing in the dark and a bike helmet at all times when cycling
- Choose places with good visibility when crossing a road
One of the patients whose life we saved last year is Paul Maycock, who had a cardiac arrest when he was cycling on a main road. A passenger in a car which stopped at the scene performed CPR on him we arrived.
Paul Maycock said: “It was a nice day and I decided to go for a bike ride around our village of West Kingsdown. I’d just turned onto the main road and… well, that was the last thing I can remember. I later learnt that I’d had a cardiac arrest and crashed my bike.”
“KSS always have a paramedic and a specialist emergency doctor on board, as well as a huge amount of essential equipment and medicine. That means I was given treatment by the roadside that is normally only available in a hospital A&E department. Along with the fact that KSS got there so quickly, their critical care is one of the main reasons why I survived when most other cardiac arrest sufferers don’t.”
David Welch, our CEO said: “Paul was incredibly lucky that cars behind him stopped to help during this incident – he was also wearing a helmet which prevented him from being more seriously injured. Sadly, however, far too many people die or have life changing injuries as a result of incidents on our roads. RTCs account for around one third of our missions and many of these devastating incidents were avoidable.
We are urging people during Road Safety Week to think about the steps they can take to keep themselves and others safe and to remember RTC victims, share their stories and keep their memories alive.”
For further information about Road Safety Week click here.
* Reported road casualties Great Britain, annual report: 2021
