As part of efforts to ensure safety on the roads, the Asuogyaman District of the National Youth Authority (NYA) has inaugurated a fifteen-member volunteer group to serve as ambassadors of road safety in the area.
Representatives of some driver unions including the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), Association of Okada Riders, and some members of the Asuogyaman District Assembly partook in the event.
The project which was the first of its kind and an initiative of the NYA in the District is expected to help curb the rate of crashes, injuries, and deaths attributed to road accidents in the country.
The ambassadors mostly youth parliamentarians from the Asuogyaman Youth Parliament representing selected communities in the District would also serve as a link for providing information and intelligence to the police and road safety authorities.
The ambassadors are expected to propagate the road safety message in their respective communities including lorry stations and markets to sensitize them on how to ensure safety while on the road.
They were also charged to report acts of riders that endanger road usage as well as respond to and alert the MTTD and ambulance service to accident scenes.
The District Director of the Authority, Miss Luyusa Akilu Mohammed Zabado in launching the programme during a workshop at the Asuogyaman District Assembly said the initiative was to sensitise the ambassadors to ensure the need to comply with the road safety regulations.
This according to her was due to the high incidents of accidents recorded in the Asuogyaman District since the year 2020.
"The programme is geared towards reduction in road accidents in the District between the period of 2020 till date, the district has recorded high motor accidents involving okada riders especially," said the NYA District Director.
To facilitate the work of the ambassadors, she added that megaphones, android phones, reflectors, and name tags would be provided for them.
She praised the young people for their patriotism in offering themselves up for the job.
The Assistant Planning Manager at the National Road Safety Authority, Mr. Benjamin Asare Densu expressed regret at the spate of rampant accidents in the Eastern Region which has placed it in an unenviable third position in the country in road traffic crashes over the past six years.
"Our position is number 3 when it comes to road crashes and we are not happy about that, we've been there for so long and we feel like there's more we have to do about it," he said adding that the situation had compelled the Authority to collaborate with MMDAs to initiate innovative ways to bring down the numbers.
He identified the N6 (Accra-Kumasi highway) which runs through a long stretch of the Eastern Region as one of the major accident-prone areas, adding that fatigue on the part of drivers plying long distances through the stretch was to blame for the accidents.
Mr. Asare Densu also cited accidents involving okada riders and those involving young drivers as another cause for worry.
Akosombo Divisional MTTD Commander, ASP John Yeboah on his part urged all road users to adhere to road safety regulations to stay safe on the roads.
EMT Nii Ayikuma, Quality Control Assurance Officer at the National Ambulance Service at Akosombo on his part educated the volunteers on what to do as first respondents at an accident scene prior to the arrival of the GNFS, the National Ambulance Service, and other medical teams, stressing on airway management breathing control and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) techniques.
The EMT while stressing that the lack of requisite skills on the part of members of the public who served as first respondents to accident scenes contributed to more casualties called on the ministry of education to include the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in its basic school curricula to train students on how to respond to accident scenes.
Assistant Divisional Officer, Delali Kofi Sunkwa with the Akosombo branch of the Ghana National Fire Service also touched on the need for first aid for victims at accident scenes.
He urged the trainees not to resort to the use of unskilled methods to resuscitate accident victims as poor handling of such victims rather resulted in their deaths.
Deputy Director of the Asuogyaman District Assembly, Mr. Agbenyor Prosper commended the district director of the NYA and the safety officers for their commitment to the workshop.
He urged the volunteers to work according to the knowledge and skills imparted to them.
He expressed regret at the alarming rates of accidents in the Eastern Region hoping that the work of the volunteers would help in addressing the status quo.
Some of the ambassadors, who spoke in an interview after the training expressed satisfaction over the workshop and were confident in applying the skills learned on the field.
As part of efforts to ensure the provision of free legal assistance to the needy in the communities and access to HIV services, the ambassadors were also tasked to create awareness among the public of the establishment of district offices for legal aid and HIV deployments respectively.
The new volunteers were awarded certificates at the end of the workshop to certify them as trained volunteers.
Representatives of some driver unions including the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association (PROTOA), Association of Okada Riders, and some members of the Asuogyaman District Assembly partook in the event.
The project which was the first of its kind and an initiative of the NYA in the District is expected to help curb the rate of crashes, injuries, and deaths attributed to road accidents in the country.
The ambassadors mostly youth parliamentarians from the Asuogyaman Youth Parliament representing selected communities in the District would also serve as a link for providing information and intelligence to the police and road safety authorities.
The ambassadors are expected to propagate the road safety message in their respective communities including lorry stations and markets to sensitize them on how to ensure safety while on the road.
They were also charged to report acts of riders that endanger road usage as well as respond to and alert the MTTD and ambulance service to accident scenes.
The District Director of the Authority, Miss Luyusa Akilu Mohammed Zabado in launching the programme during a workshop at the Asuogyaman District Assembly said the initiative was to sensitise the ambassadors to ensure the need to comply with the road safety regulations.
This according to her was due to the high incidents of accidents recorded in the Asuogyaman District since the year 2020.
"The programme is geared towards reduction in road accidents in the District between the period of 2020 till date, the district has recorded high motor accidents involving okada riders especially," said the NYA District Director.
To facilitate the work of the ambassadors, she added that megaphones, android phones, reflectors, and name tags would be provided for them.
She praised the young people for their patriotism in offering themselves up for the job.
The Assistant Planning Manager at the National Road Safety Authority, Mr. Benjamin Asare Densu expressed regret at the spate of rampant accidents in the Eastern Region which has placed it in an unenviable third position in the country in road traffic crashes over the past six years.
"Our position is number 3 when it comes to road crashes and we are not happy about that, we've been there for so long and we feel like there's more we have to do about it," he said adding that the situation had compelled the Authority to collaborate with MMDAs to initiate innovative ways to bring down the numbers.
He identified the N6 (Accra-Kumasi highway) which runs through a long stretch of the Eastern Region as one of the major accident-prone areas, adding that fatigue on the part of drivers plying long distances through the stretch was to blame for the accidents.
Mr. Asare Densu also cited accidents involving okada riders and those involving young drivers as another cause for worry.
Akosombo Divisional MTTD Commander, ASP John Yeboah on his part urged all road users to adhere to road safety regulations to stay safe on the roads.
EMT Nii Ayikuma, Quality Control Assurance Officer at the National Ambulance Service at Akosombo on his part educated the volunteers on what to do as first respondents at an accident scene prior to the arrival of the GNFS, the National Ambulance Service, and other medical teams, stressing on airway management breathing control and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) techniques.
The EMT while stressing that the lack of requisite skills on the part of members of the public who served as first respondents to accident scenes contributed to more casualties called on the ministry of education to include the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in its basic school curricula to train students on how to respond to accident scenes.
Assistant Divisional Officer, Delali Kofi Sunkwa with the Akosombo branch of the Ghana National Fire Service also touched on the need for first aid for victims at accident scenes.
He urged the trainees not to resort to the use of unskilled methods to resuscitate accident victims as poor handling of such victims rather resulted in their deaths.
Deputy Director of the Asuogyaman District Assembly, Mr. Agbenyor Prosper commended the district director of the NYA and the safety officers for their commitment to the workshop.
He urged the volunteers to work according to the knowledge and skills imparted to them.
He expressed regret at the alarming rates of accidents in the Eastern Region hoping that the work of the volunteers would help in addressing the status quo.
Some of the ambassadors, who spoke in an interview after the training expressed satisfaction over the workshop and were confident in applying the skills learned on the field.
As part of efforts to ensure the provision of free legal assistance to the needy in the communities and access to HIV services, the ambassadors were also tasked to create awareness among the public of the establishment of district offices for legal aid and HIV deployments respectively.
The new volunteers were awarded certificates at the end of the workshop to certify them as trained volunteers.
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