The 147 Emergency Service provides additional emergency support, information and value added services to all Vodacom customers. The operator of the 147 call centre will stay on line with the customer in an emergency situation and make sure that the call is successfully routed to the police, fire brigade, ambulance, traffic, medical and/or roadside assistance services. Standard call rates apply. Vodacom customers have the option to subscribe to the “147 Plus” service and pay a fixed monthly fee. This provides the customer with free medical assistance, including a 24 hour medical advice helpline, as well as 24 hour emergency-medical advice and information hotline 24 hours per day. Free medical transportation and other free medical services are also included.
The “147 Peace-of-mind service”, charged at a monthly subscription fee is also an option. This services includes all the value added services provided as per the “147 Plus” service. In addition, customers also get free roadside assistance when needing help with a flat tyre, flat battery, even when a customer has been in a car accident they will provide vehicle assistance. This service also provides a home service programme for emergency situations, access to legal and tax experts with the as well as worldwide travel assistance access programme.
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ICE (In Case of Emergency)
ICE (In Case of Emergency) is an international concept which allows emergency service personnel to obtain the contact information of family or friends of a person in an emergency situation, through accessing “ICE” on the person’s cellphone address book.
With ICE, paramedics will be able to notify your family or friends immediately, by accessing your information, rather than going through an entire address book guessing who to phone. Paramedics know what ICE means and they look for it straight away.
MTN
MTN has provided information on the benefits offered through the mobility of cellular phones. These include
Conference calling allows you to connect with up to five other people at the same time. All participants in a Conference Call can talk to the other participants and hear each other clearly. It is useful for conducting meetings telephonically or to communicate with a group of people at the same time.
Road users who are lost and needing help reaching their destination will benefit from this service. Anywhere in SA, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week MTN Directions 22522 will be on hand just dial 22522.
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MTN Directory Enquiries 200
This is a service for publicly listed numbers and is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. Dial 200 and speak to the operator. For Call Connect, ask the operator to connect you to the number of your choice.
This service is available 24 hours, 7 days a week, i.e. a crisis centre for police, ambulance, fire brigade and a poison centre. 112 calls are routed directly to MRI (Medical Rescue International) which operates throughout SA. Calls to 112 are free of charge.
This provides a reliable wakeup call and might assist the road users in planning his trip and avoiding the dangers of speeding when not on time!
This service provides daily weather updates for each of the eleven regions in SA.
CPR and Road Safety – Know more and Save Lives!!
What is CPR?
Definition: An emergency procedure consisting of external cardiac massage and artificial respiration; the first treatment for a person who has collapsed and has no pulse and has stopped breathing; attempts to restore circulation of the blood and prevent death or brain damage due to lack of oxygen
CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) is a life saving emergency response technique. Performing CPR pumps oxygen-rich blood into the heart and brain. It can prevent brain damage and may save a life.
Few road users however know this technique and have only seen this administered, often incorrectly on television and the movies.
How can I learn to perform lifesaving CPR?
The best way to learn CPR is to attend a CPR class presented by an accredited medical institution or emergency response provider. CPR is a skill both to be learnt, practiced and regularly updated.
What are the Basic Steps of CPR?
The Basic Steps are easy to remember - When you get to a scene, and you find an emergency situation, follow these 3 basic steps: CHECK , CALL , CARE
Step 1: Check
First, you should check the scene, for safety and then later on you'll check the victim.
When you check the scene you want to make sure that it's safe for both you and the victim. Do not put your own life in danger and become a victim yourself!
What do you need to check for?
When you are assessing the scene, also make a note of the following:
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Possible safety risks
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Check for the number of victims. How many victims do you have?
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Check for clues as to what could have happened or bystanders able to provide more information or to render assistance in stopping traffic.
Now you can check the victim. Find out if they are unconscious. The best way to find out if the victim is conscious is to talk to them. Tap them on their shoulder and shout and see if they respond to you.
Step 2: Call
If they are unconscious or under any other life threatening conditions, you should automatically call one of the Emergency response numbers
Step 3: Care
It is most important to remember the ABC of Care
A is for airway
B is for breathing
C is for circulation.
Step 4: A for Airway
To open the airway, tilt the head back, lift the chin and look, listen, and feel for up to ten seconds. This way you can tell if a person is breathing.
Step 5: B for Breathing
If there is no breathing, go to the "B" step, which involves administering two rescue breaths into the person's mouth. Tilt the head back, pinch the nose, lift the chin and give two breaths ensuring that a tight seal in made around their mouth with yours. Those breaths are about 1 second long.
If the breaths go in, look towards the victim’s chest while administering the rescue breaths, you will notice the chest rise, that tells you that there is no blockage. Look over the victim's body and see if there's any bleeding, and if so you need to put pressure on the site so as to stop the bleed. If there is a second rescuer or bystander, get them to hold a sturdy amount of pressure on the wound. Then, begin CPR.
If the breaths did not go in try again, you may not have maintained a good seal the first time, if the breaths still do not go in, the victim's airway is obstructed. Follow the steps for Unconscious Choking.
Step 6: Check Pulse
Pulse check is no longer done for adults. However, one should check the pulse of children and infants. For children, check the pulse on the side of the neck. For infants, check the pulse on the middle of the inside of the arm, between the elbow and the shoulder.
Step 7: C For Circulation
Check the pulse and breathing, and act accordingly. If there is a pulse and breathing, place them on their side in the recovery position.
Step 8: Rescue Breathing
If there is a pulse but no breathing, breathe for the victim. They do not require compressions - only breaths. So do what is called "rescue breathing".
Give one breath every 5 seconds, and give 24 breaths in about 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, stop to re-check the pulse and breathing again, and decide how to proceed.
Step 9: CPR
If the victim had no pulse / no breathing, perform CPR.
CPR is a combination of compressions and breaths and it serves to let oxygenated blood throughout the entire body. It keeps the brain and other vital organs alive, until advanced emergency personnel can take over.
When we do CPR, we're going to do 30 compressions and 2 breaths and we're going to do them five times every 2 minutes.
For CPR for a child, you can use two hands, but if you're dealing with a very small child, you probably want to do a one-handed technique. The one-handed technique involves putting one hand on the center of the chest and the other on the forehead. Keep that airway open and put your shoulders directly over the victim's chest and keeping your arms straight. Compress down one to one and a half inches as you do your compressions. Count out loud while doing the compressions: one and two and three and four… Ensuring that you compress the victims chest at least 2/3 of the width of the chest.
Remember to keep your hands placed on the victims chest on the breastbone at the level of the nipples.
Step 10: Stopping CPR
Once you begin CPR, do not stop to recheck. Continue without stopping, until you see signs of life, another trained person takes over, a defibrillator is ready to be used, the scene becomes unsafe, or you are too exhausted to continue.
Step 11: Recovery
If the victim shows signs of life, recheck their airway and breathing, and if they are breathing, place them in the recovery position with the stomach to the ground and the head to the side, resting on their arm.
Escaping from a Submerged Vehicle
The need to escape from a sinking vehicle is a rarity. According to available data less than one-half of 1 percent of all auto crashes involve submersion. Yet, it does happen, and we need to ask the question whether we would be able to survive such an experience?
With enough know-how, survival is definitely possible and we need to equip motorists with information that will enable them to survive. Motorists seldom have to confront a bridge collapsing underneath them and the risks are more often associated with cars driving off quay-sides or into rivers. Also included are problems that arise when the parking brake isn't applied properly with cars simply rolling down embankments into lakes or rivers.
More common occurrences include being swept off the road in a flash flood as a result of a natural disaster. It is important to acknowledge that not all experts agree on all the survival tips and the precise sequence of escape - but there are some common threads that need to be identified and learnt from. On balance, it seems that the best course of action is to try and get out as soon as possible.
What to expect from a sinking vehicle?
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The speed at which a car will sink depends on several factors, including the distance of the fall, speed and angle of entry and the physical characteristics of the vehicle.
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Most entries of vehicles into the water are smooth entries with the water cushioning the blow. Most people survive the initial impact with minimal or no injury at all.
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If you remain relatively calm there should be enough time for you to take action to save your life and the lives of your passengers.
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Newer cars that are better at keeping sound out will likely also be better at keeping water out.
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Most vehicles will float for a minute or two before beginning to sink. Cars usually sink at an angle, with the weight of the engine pulling down the front first. A rear-engine car sinks trunk-first.
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It is possible that the vehicle might flip onto its roof in deeper water.
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In a test in a controlled environment experts from the police tried to sink a car and were surprised to find that it took 5 minutes for the vehicle to sink.
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In a car that sinks front first, there will be a bubble of air in the back, but you should stay in the front ... the front windows are often bigger and easier to get out of — for all passengers.
Basic Survival Tips
1. Staying calm
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Experts agree that before you leap into action you should take a few deep breaths and calm yourself down.
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Making educated decisions could mean the difference between life and death.
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Once you have panicked you can't think clearly, you can't focus and you won't be able to save yourself.
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Staying calm and helping any passengers to stay calm is the single most important thing you can do to survive a car sinking in water.
2. Seatbelt
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Many people fear that if they are wearing a seatbelt they will not be able to unbuckle it and will be trapped in the vehicle.
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This fear is however unfound - A seatbelt is designed for quick release, and without it there is nothing to hold you in place, nothing to keep your head from slamming into the steering wheel or dashboard. (Hitting water at speed is comparable to hitting a wall.)
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If you were knocked unconscious you would be helpless. You wouldn’t have a chance to save yourself, let alone help anyone else. If you and any passengers are wearing seatbelts, chances of survival are much greater.
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The first instinct may be to unbuckle your seat belt and try to escape, but experts warn that passengers should first check their surroundings.
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You want to make sure the impact is over before you take off your seat belt. This might include the possibility of other cars or foreign objects heading toward the vehicle.
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If a belt won’t release, find something with which to cut it.
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Unbuckling your seat belt will allow greater freedom of movement.
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Be aware that the seatbelts might not retract; take care not to get tangled.
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If your head restraints are removable, pull them out when you release your seatbelt to enable easy passage for rear passengers.
3. Opening windows / doors
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Once a vehicle sinks it may turn sideways or upside down.
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Occupants who are not buckled in with a seat belt will float within the vehicle and can easily become disoriented. It then becomes extremely difficult for them to find the windows or door handles.
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If you remain in your seated position (as you will if your seatbelt remains fastened) you will retain your orientation regardless of what position the vehicle is in.
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In some instances, the vehicle will sink quickly and you won’t have time to roll down the windows. Again, stay calm, unbuckle your seat belt and check on passengers.
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If you are sinking rapidly, you need to wait for the water pressure inside the vehicle to become equal to the pressure outside.
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Even though it might sound strange, it might be best to let the vehicle sink further and wait until things settle. Let the vehicle fill up with more water before attempting to open a window or door.
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This is because water rushing against a vehicle weighs thousands of pounds.
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Trying to open a door or window with that kind of pressure wastes valuable time and energy. And if you were successful, the onrush of water most likely would push you away, even pin you under the dash.
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It's only when internal pressure is equal to outside pressure that you can open the car door.
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When you are ready to open a door, the recommendation is to always choose a door on the side away from the water flow. It's much easier to open a door on the down river side of flowing water.
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Once you have escaped via the door or an open window the next best thing might be the roof of the vehicle and to consider from there the safest way of moving to safety.
Equip yourself with a few necessities
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If the door does not open and the window does not turn down you might have to break the window
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This might be t is easier said than done - automotive windows are made of tempered glass which is extremely strong.
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It takes a concentrated force against a very small area of the glass to shatter it.
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If you have a window shattering tool, use it to break either the side or rear window to escape.
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Spring-loaded punch has a steel tip that can shatter a window. Hardware stores call this an “automatic center punch” because it’s used to mark wood or metal before drilling a hole.
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Even though you might not have the best surviving tools for an “under water escape” there are everyday tools that might help you to shatter the window.
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An old spark plug, kept in your glove compartment, is heavy and strong enough to break a window.
Golden safety rules
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It may seem obvious - but don't try to save anything except lives. Computers, phones, purses, jewellery, etc. can be replaced - you can't!
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What about passengers in the vehicle? - Before you can save anyone else, you have to first save yourself!
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Once you reach the surface, take a few seconds to get your bearings, and if you have the swimming skills, take a deep breath and go back down. Hopefully, you can help someone else escape.
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Unless there is another person in the car that you are trying to save, you should never go back into a sinking or submerged vehicle. There is nothing, short of saving another person that is worth the risk.
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You and your passengers need to focus on one goal only and that is “to exit the car as quickly as possible”.
Firearms, Accidents and Road Safety
Introduction/ Background to Firearm Safety
Too many people die daily in firearm accidents. The Arrive Alive website is well aware of the many firearm incidents to which our paramedics have to respond –and has decided to share safety advice and suggestions with our road users.
It is interesting to note that some 90 million people in the United States have an estimated 200 million guns. Gun deaths in the United States average about 80 a day, 34 of them homicides, according to U.S. government statistics.
With safety from crime a very important consideration for South Africans, many have become firearm owners and are transporting firearms in their vehicles. We would like to assist in creating safety awareness about firearms both when on and away from our roads!
We would like to include some rules and recommendations that can be applied when handling firearms. The purpose of this section is to eliminate or minimize the risks of unintentional death, injury or damage caused by improper handling of firearms.
Fundamentals of Firearm Safety
The Fundamentals of Firearm Safety
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Always assume all guns are loaded. The only unloaded gun in the entire world is the one that you have in your hand and have personally verified as unloaded. If you set it down and take your hand off from it, it becomes a loaded gun again.
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Keep your finger off the trigger and outside the trigger guard until you are ready to shoot.
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Control the muzzle - Don't point the gun at anything you are not willing to destroy. Never point a firearm at yourself or others.
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Know your target and make sure you identify what you are shooting at and know what lies in front of and beyond it.
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Never climb a tree, fence or wall while carrying a loaded gun.
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If you are going to leave a gun, make sure it is unloaded and lying flat or secured in a proper rack.
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Never take alcohol, drugs or medications immediately before or during shooting.
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Never shoot at flat hard surfaces or water which causes ricochets.
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Check ammunition to see if it is the right size.
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Should a gun fail to discharge after the trigger is pulled, keep the gun pointing at the target for at least 30 seconds.
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Never take a gun out of a vehicle by pulling it toward you by the muzzle.
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Secure your guns so they are not readily accessible to unauthorized users.
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Always wear ear plugs or muffs to protect your hearing.
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Shooting glasses should be used to protect your eyes from gas blow back.
Contributing factors to Firearm Accidents
Before offering safety suggestions about firearm usage, we need to investigate firearm accidents and identify the contributing factors to these accidents:
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Many firearm accidents result from the operator mistakenly believing a firearm is emptied, made safe, or otherwise disabled when in fact it is ready to be discharged.
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Such misunderstandings can arise from a number of sources:
*Faulty handling of the firearm. A handler may execute the steps of procedures such as loading, firing and emptying in the wrong order or omit steps of the procedures.
* Misunderstandings about a firearm's status. For instance, a handler may think the safety is on when it is not. A round of ammunition may be in the chamber or in the magazine while the handler thinks it is empty. A handler may receive a firearm and assume it is in a certain state without checking whether that assumption is true.
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