“Civil Defence Organisation’s job is to empower citizens and keep emergency services going on. However, we are not getting more volunteers,” says Sanjay Pandey, deputy commandant of Home Guards and deputy director of Civil Defence. He was speaking at the third session under the “Police & You” series.
Moneylife Foundation with Police Reforms Watch & Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative and with support from Saraswat Bank has launched the 12-week program (every Wednesday) that aims to spread knowledge about protecting yourself, your rights, the Indian Penal Code (IPC), cybercrime and economic offences. Today was the third such session.
Mr Pandey, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Maharashtra Cadre from the 1986 batch, says, “We also train and issue license to security agencies. So in case you are in doubt, you can send your housing society watchman or security guard. We will check their training knowledge. If they are good, then you can be assured of proper service. If they are not properly trained, we will take necessary action against the agency that employed them.”
The event was held in the well-appointed auditorium of Saraswat Bank headquarters, Eknath Thakur Bhavan.
The third session of the 12-week series on “Disaster Management: First Aid and CPR” was conducted by Vilas Bidwe, Shivaji Desai and Milind Shinde from the Directorate of Civil Defence of Maharashtra Govt. Mr Bidwe, the Deputy Controller at CDO for Area-IV of Greater Mumbai, conducted the session in first aid.
Through his presentation, Mr Bidwe explained the various first-aid treatments for wounds, haemorrhage, fractures, burns, asphyxia and foreign body in eye, ear and nose. There are different kinds of wounds, haemorrhage, fractures and burns, and all these needs to be treated differently. He explained in detail on how to treat different types of wounds, haemorrhage and fractures. “Every injury comes with its own signs and symptoms. The patient needs to be treated based on these symptoms,” he said.
Mr Bidwe also described difference between a dislocation and a fracture. When a limb is dislocated, many try to fix it by bringing the limb back in position. Mr Bidwe cautioned that this should never be done. “Also if there is a swelling, one should never apply a cold compress. Both, in the case of fracture, sprains and dislocation, only external support should be provided to the limb to avoid further stress to the injured, while medical help is arranged.
Similarly, different kinds of burns need to be treated differently based on their severity and the cause of the burn. Burns due to alkalis or acids need to be treated differently. One should not burst the blister formed and avoid applying any type of lotion or cream. However, superficial burns can be washed under running water. Further, he explained on the treatment of asphyxia and insensibility, which is caused by lack of oxygen in the body. In such cases, the patient should be assured of free supply of air by avoiding congestion around the patient. When a foreign object enters the eye, ear or nose, it should be treated with utmost care.
Later, Mr Desai and Mr Shinde, both Assistant Deputy Controllers at CDO, with the help of a mannequin, demonstrated various techniques and methods of administrating CPR. They also showed different types of bandages to be used during an accident or disaster.
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