The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says its crash-response procedure prioritises saving lives, with critically injured victims evacuated before those with less serious injuries and deceased victims.
The Corps Public Education Officer, Osondu Ohaeri, said this in an interview on Friday in Abuja while responding to concerns over the handling of crash victims and corpses.
He said FRSC personnel are trained to secure crash scenes, control traffic, assess casualties and administer first aid, with critically injured victims evacuated without delay to appropriate health facilities.
Ohaeri said the corps operates the Emergency Ambulance Service Scheme, known as Zebra, and roadside clinics, while members of the public can report crashes or request assistance through the toll-free 122 emergency line.
He explained that officers assess victims by checking responsiveness, airway and breathing, as well as the severity of injuries, stressing that they do not arbitrarily pronounce victims dead at crash scenes.
“Where there is uncertainty about a person’s condition, the appropriate approach is to treat the person as requiring emergency medical attention and evacuate accordingly,” he said.
On deceased victims, Ohaeri said FRSC personnel are expected to treat remains with dignity, document identities and personal effects where possible, preserve evidence and transfer corpses to appropriate authorities or facilities.
He said living and deceased victims should be transported separately whenever practicable, adding that ambulances are primarily emergency rescue vehicles for living casualties requiring medical attention.
He noted that exceptional circumstances at individual crash scenes could affect arrangements, depending on factors such as available vehicles, distance, number of casualties and access to medical or mortuary facilities.
