29 February 2008

The Accident Incident

Thursday 7th February, on our way back to Lagos from a meeting with the rather impressive Titi Oseni, Speaker of the Ogun State House of Assembly, we happened on an accident on the Ibadan-Lagos motorway. Traffic had built up on that side of the road, about 15 vehicles had stopped by the site of the accident, and about 50 people were also in attendance, so we drove past. After another 150 metres, I decided we stopped to assist with the rescue work. So we walked back the 150 metres to what can only be expressed as carnage.

A light passenger bus carrying 18 people had collided with a Peugeot 504 Estate, it appeared that some were dead and others had varying degree of injuries - from those in shock to those who were seriously wounded and unconscious including two babies; a four-month and a 10-month old respectively.

In fairness to the people already at the scene, some of them had pulled the accident victims from the wreckage; however, the vast majority were spectating, genuinely sorry for the victim, genuinely helpless but hampering rescue work by their shouting and general rowdiness. I knew time was of the essence if more people were to be saved so with a few other people and Road Safety Officers who had now come to the scene, we started appealing to passing motorists (large trucks really) to stop and get the victims to hospital quickly. Eventually the driver of a gari-carrying truck stopped. About seven victims were quickly loaded to the back of the open truck on top of gari bags. The rest went on the back of the Road Safety pick-up van.

I asked the lead Road Safety Officer which hospital they were being taken, he replied Sagamu. Then he did a double take and said the doctors at the Sagamu hospital were on strike. I suggested we go to Lagos, he replied he didn't know any hospital in Lagos except I lead them. I agreed, though I didn’t know how to get to any hospital in Lagos too. So we ran to our car 150 metres ahead to form a convoy of three vehicles. In the car, my wife and I started to phone our friends to ask for directions to the nearest hospital in Lagos.

Driving at a fairly high speed, we were in Lagos within 20 minutes. We now had to confront the ‘small’ issue of Lagos traffic. We devised a means around this; at traffic lights or any hold-up, the Road Safety vehicle with siren blaring will come to the front and lead us out after which we take the lead again.

We eventually arrived at the Ikeja General Hospital at about 5pm. There was only one doctor on duty at the emergency ward. He was visibly tired too. By this time, we had lost one of the women in the back of the Road Safety vehicle. She was the mother of one of the babies and her husband who was also brought to hospital was slipping in and out of consciousness.

One of the babies was given an oxygen mask because he was not breathing on arrival. By the time we left, we were told he had yanked it off. So he's good. The Doctor suggested we take one lady who was really bad and foaming from her mouth to LUTH, a teaching hospital, I asked for an ambulance and was told to go the next building. There I learnt the lady in charge - a doctor had gone to the ground floor, when I saw her, she said their drivers were on training and that they close at 6pm. When my wife asked her why they close at 6pm, she replied "do you want to kill them". My wife asked her if she had ever heard of a rota system.

She pointed at five or so swanky new ambulances parked in front of the block explaining the great strides they had made, I pointed at the dead woman at the back of the truck saying she should tell her how good her department and the government were. It was getting heated, we made up and I suggested to her that as head of that unit, she has a God-given responsibility to devise a way of making it work.

At the scene, was a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly who must have come to see a patient. We spoke about having more ambulances on the roads particularly the Lagos-Ibadan motorway which is notorious for accidents.

Back to the doctor, he was busy treating those with minor injuries at the back of the truck and insisted we take the unconscious lady to LUTH. A nurse that was passing by said to him as a matter of fact, "why don't you stabilise her first, if not, she will die on the way". He responded angrily "don't teach me my job". I begged him, he relented, we were later told that the lady was stable, and we never had to go to LUTH. There was no way we could have gone anyhow.

The Road Safety Officers were becoming restless, they wanted to deposit the dead woman's body in the mortuary and go back to Abeokuta as it was getting dark. They needed the doctor's certification before they could do so. He was busy, they were restless; another drama ensued, and the doctor walked one of the Road Safety Officers out of the ward.

The Road Safety Officers asked me for money for fuel as they were low and had ventured out of their usual area of operation. I offered to give them 2000 Naira or more for fuel, they replied they only needed 500 Naira. I offered to buy water for them, they politely declined. Off they went on their way, two men and a woman into the night, back to Abeokuta. They were genuine men and woman, I truly respect their gallantry. They are the heroes of Nigeria. I am really proud to know and to work alongside them.

On Monday 18th February 2008 the news filtered in that the Director of Public Relations for the Nigerian Army, Brig. General Solomon Giwa-Amu had died in (you know what) a motor accident along the Abuja-Kaduna motorway. Yet another loss. He was a very fine Officer.

A few lessons
1. In Nigeria, never assume that people at a scene are actually doing anything. Many people are helpless and neither have the means or knowhow for things like this. Majority have simply given up hope.

2. We need people who have had some exposure in the outside world to come back home and help develop the country particularly those with organisational skills.

3. I was assured by the Road Safety Officers and a Police Officer present at the scene, that the widespread belief that you could be in trouble of the police if you stop to help accident victims is not entirely true. I can’t guarantee this assertion, but at the point at which we got involved with the accident victims, our thoughts were focused on helping the victims and not on whether the police will harass us. In the event, we did not have to complete a form or anything.

4. In the event of an accident on the Lagos-Ibadan motorway, the number for the Sagamu Road Safety Corps office as passed to us by one of their officers is 0803 438 8583.

5. There are many heroes in Nigeria - the Road Safety Officers led by Hakeem, the people who got the victims from the wreckage, the doctor who had to cope with 14 wounded victims, the nurses supporting him, the member of the Lagos State House of Assembly (Adekunle Ademoye) who bought diapers with his money for one of the babies. Not to forget the driver of the gari truck who showed a great act of kindness and saved lives.PostCardfromLagos

11 comments:

ade said...

Like the history of our country, this story is bitter sweet - the individual acts of 'citizenship': people going beyond the call of duty to ensure that our society not only functions but grows - against the sadness of not having the tools to deal with it - the lady in the hospital who had not thought of a rota system or the impact of an entire ambulance team being out on training. The frustration for me is how to help - I could help the lady to plan her work team better, understand how to create a strategic plan for the unit but how do I get to her to help her without having to wait for an accident to happen? Perhaps we need to look at a citizens project based on the original concept of NYSC (finding orgs that need help and trying to match up Nigerian who are willing to help?) Would anyone be interested in that?

Postcard from Lagos said...

This is one of the reasons behind this blog. We have too many talents that can make the country work. This will be a welcome development and PostCardfromLagos will place every resource at its disposal for the succss of this initiative.

Charles Ibi... said...

Another good one Mr. Badejo. Our dear country is gradually but surely taking baby steps - two shaky moves forward and "gbam" face flat on the cement floor! I believe our over-worked comrades in Lagos will one day have cause to be joyful. Imagine the physically drained medical personnel having to deal with a dozen plus cases after a full day's job. What about our civil (servants) risking their lives to travel late at night? Yepa! Who would believe there is a number one can call in situations like you related here. There is a very dull line of silver in the sky. I hope the lawmaker will push citizen-friendly policies on the floor of the house. Buying diapers is good, but working for the suffering people should be the real deal! God bless NIGERIA.

Anonymous said...

Probably, with what you saw, the Lord Showed you all the work, that need to be done for improvment of Nigeria.

bade omololu said...

Bade,Iam happy you were able to help these poor victims . I will be glad t partner with you as i have worried so much on carnage on our roads and which way forward.
Keep it up and the good Lord will continue to uphold you.

Ayomide said...

Mr. Badejo,
My blinkers went full strength when I read Ronke's story on NVS and even more so with your response and a call for citizenry. Undoubtedly, likewise others, it certainly was beckoning at me. I had always thought of ways in which I can benefit my country on my holidays, long or short, volunteering towards its improvement. And, I see potential.

I want to help, and will want to be part of a group that makes positively significant impact on the lives of people, ours in particular in light of so much decadence and slowly emerging reform. Given the wealth of knowledge and experience acquired here, it will be gratifying to give back a little to a culture that has given us so much.

To that end, I herald ade's suggestion for a Citizen's Project.

This would be ideal.

Certainly, it will take all of us to fix our problems, but the tasks can be easier if we function as contributing members of a team.

In Nigeria and your story, doctors are constantly over worked and many times under-utilized. They do not have to make all the decisions during crises. There are and should be other members of that team on hand to assist all the way. That doctor that was so eager to shut down transportation should have been present to assist and control the chaos. Also, there are very well trained nurses, as evident in your story, and other allied health personnel who can ably assist and dis-impact any emergency scene or emergency room. For example, Nurse Practitioners (here in the USA) are well trained for tertiary and rural healthcare environments just as in this situation. Many function impressively in emergency medicine. And we can borrow a chapter on that. Through education and mentoring, capable Nigerian nurses can be brought up to speed to function quite independently. Our doctors will need mentoring too. Here in the USA, many medical school programs now dedicate at least 2 semesters teaching management/people skills. That speaks volumes on its own. Other allied personnel: social services, physical therapists and the like can provide monumental support. Hospital administrators can devote their skills to setting-up the system efficiently such that even the emergency outfits on the freeways (thank God for the Road Safety Officers)can stabilize patients enough before transport. Advertise road safety numbers on all media.

Most of all, we must generate enough voice to have our roads fixed. Increase the number of hospitals and clinics in every locale with adequate 24-hour operations. We must save lives and our country. Count me in...

Anonymous said...

So Mr Badejo, what is the next Chapter with all these offers of help and contribution from well meaning Nigerians?

Anonymous said...

This is unsettling. Is there anything my family and I can do to help?

Arinola.

bade omololu said...

Dear Badejo, As i reiterated the last time i will be glad to give a talk on carnage on our roads which way forward,? so that everyone will be able to comment and make useful contributions.
We can even get the road safety involved as i can link them up in Ibadan here.
Thanks.
Bade.

Anonymous said...

Good to have helped and also highlight some of our organizational problems. I am most sad about the one in charge of ambulances...in Nigeria, the protect the ambulances as if they should never go old. Whereas, ambulances are supposed to have engines running 24 hours, ready to move when emegencies arise. what a pity that a "doctor" would be so deficient.

Anonymous said...

i'm so glad you all stopped to help. usually when people right stories like this they just talk about how they sped past..