IASbaba's Flagship Course: Integrated Learning Programme (ILP) - 2024 Read Details
TOPIC: General Studies 2
- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
In News: President Ram Nath Kovind has given assent to a bill, India’s first, which will give legal protection to the good samaritans in Karnataka who help accidents victims with emergency medical care within the ‘golden hour’. With this, Karnataka has become the first state to give legal protection to good samaritans through a legislation amidst the rising incidents of accidental deaths in India, which saw 1,50,785 people getting killed in road accidents in 2016.
Good Samaritan is “A person who, in good faith, without expectation of reward and without any duty of care or special relationship, voluntarily comes forward to administer emergency care to an injured person.”
Objective of the Legislation – It has been found that bystanders often refrain from helping accident victims due to the fear of legal and procedural hassles. The legislation aims to give protection to good samaritans and ensure immediate medical assistance for road accident victims within the ‘golden hour’ and encourage people to offer first aid to victims without fear of harassment in the hands of police and investigations.
Why the need for this Legislation –
A sizeable proportion of these deaths could have been avoided if victims had received emergency medical treatment on time. In fact, the Law Commission of India in a report, noted that over 50 per cent of road accident deaths can be averted with timely medical care within the first one hour. This translates to 70,000 lives that could be saved.
This legislation is a huge milestone and will create an enabling atmosphere where bystanders feel protected by law and come forward to help road crash victims. This will be a game-changer for Karnataka in reducing the number of road crash fatalities, the annual figure of which is over 11,000.
Features of the Legislation:
The ‘Golden Hour’
In medical parlance, ‘golden hour’ means the first hour after the accident.
Experts often cite the ‘bystanders effect’ as one of the key reasons behind apparent public apathy. What the bystanders theory talks about is the inhibiting influence of other people’s presence on a person’s willingness to help someone in need. A bystander is less likely to help someone if they are in the real or imagined presence of other people.
Image Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/thesundaystandard/2018/oct/07/karnatakas-good-samaritan-law-sets-an-example-1882029.html
The Way Ahead:
Connecting the Dots