Sonkran Car Accidents

[simon43]

Watching all the gruesome pictures on TV of squashed pick-ups etc, it made me wonder whether there is actually a fire-service in Thailand that attends the scene of such accidents. On the TV clips all I see are loads of bystanders and maybe one or two civilians or police trying to pull some poor sod out of the mangled wreckage.

Anyway, this is a serious question that maybe some of our Thai friends can answer. What happens when there is a serious vehicle accident? Does the fire-service attend, or do they only attend to fires? And do they have any suitable equipment for such vehicle accidents? (eg jaws of live). Yes, I know such equipments are costly, but I'm interested to know if there is any procedure to deal with vehicle accidents. Is there an air ambulance in BKK?

Notwithstanding the crazy driving/drink-driving that often causes these accidents, I wonder whether more lives could be saved by having a more co-ordinated and better-equipped rescue service. Or is the whole idea not to maximise the saving of lives because that would place more pressure on the few resources that are available? (Don't bother saving his life because he can't afford to pay for the treatment anyway...)

Just wondering ...

Simon

[GuestHouse]

The lack of coordinated and trained emergency services in Thailand is one of the reasons why road fatalities are so high.

I've seen people being dragged from car wrecks with no thought for possible spine injuries and I've seen a doctor fit a drip to a French woman who had been dead fro half an hour when the ambulance arrived.

Just as bad are the 'Foundations' who rush to the aid of any accident victim, the reason for the rush is that they want to be the first on the scene to relieve the victim of all their valuables.

The only bright side of this is, they often kill themselves in their rush to the accident.

[Bluecat]

I had an accident about one year ago in BKK.

I was on New Radchadapisek Road, going back home at about midnight and one guy on his motorbike just crossed the 4 lanes without looking, without light and without helmet, of course.

I could not avoid him and send him flying in the air with his motorbike.

A few minutes later, appearing from nowhere came this pick-up truck, supposed to be "first help".

They just lifted off the guy from the road without checking anything and dropped him on the pick-up.

Fortunately, the guy was only slightly injured and hence was not killed by the "helpers". But I guess, in many cases, they are helping the Thai healthcare system. They bring only to hospital the slightly injured, the others? They "finish" them,...