Experience and recommendations of renowned safety agencies, which tend to reduce the effects of the increased vehicle fleet globally, clearly shows that the carrying and use of First Aid kits by all road users highly contribute to enhancing safety on roads. The consensus on this web page is clear and it shows there is a wealth of medical evidence to suggest that a `golden hour' exists for casualties after an accident. Within this time, road accident victims stand a greater chance of survival and a reduction in the severity of their injuries, if first aid and medical (paramedic or ambulance) assistance can be immediately administered.
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“It is sad that many accident victims survive the accident in the first instance but pass away due to late emergence response and wrongful handling at the spot or on the way to hospital. Basis First Aid skills and fast emergency can save lives”.

National road safety strategy 2006-2010 by Ghana National Road Safety Commission.
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Post-injury management - in a large number of instances, survival and the extent of recovery will depend more on the initial care given at the roadside than at later stages of acute care. Emphasis should be given to developing communication systems that locate persons quickly, transport services that can rapidly evacuate the victims and emergency medical care systems that can provide effective first services.

World Medical Association Statement on Traffic Injury, Adopted by the 42nd World Medical Assembly Rancho Mirage, CA., USA, October 1990
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Life-saving actions applied within the very first moments after an accident are instrumental to reducing mortality. About 60% of preventable deaths are due to airway obstruction and occur before medical help arrives. This can be resolved by applying simple first aid techniques.

Collaborated by The Road Accidents and First Aid report, published by the British Red Cross on May 8th 2001 “simple First Aid skills for road users can dramatically affect the outcome for casualties of road accidents”.
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The EU Directive on driving licences of September 2000 (Directive 2000/56/EC - English & French) puts emphasis on the requirement of First Aid knowledge for the general public regarding protective measures, alert and basic life saving measures and First Aid training and refreshment for professional drivers.
Some Member States have already taken action in this area, others are in the process of doing so. In September 2003, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Directive (Directive 2003/59 - English & French versions) regarding the initial qualification and periodic training of drivers of certain road vehicles for the carriage of goods or passengers. One paragraph entitled "Objective: ability to assess emergency situations" now makes first aid part of minimum qualification and training requirements.
source :RED CROSS / EU OFFICE
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“Every effort should be made to promote the adoption of a regulation requiring drivers to hold a first aid certificate - to be renewed regularly - and have first aid material constantly in the vehicle”.

Global Road Safety Partnership
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A first aid kit shall be placed in vehicles of categories B (in case they are destined for transport of goods and passengers), C and D as defined in annex 6 to the Convention on Road Traffic (1968); (b) The possession of such a kit shall be encouraged on vehicles other than those indicated under paragraph (a) above when basic knowledge of and training in first aid is a condition for obtaining a permit to drive them.

United Nations, Economic Commission For Europe Consolidated Resolution On Road Traffic (R.E.1.) Trans/Sc.1/294/Rev.5
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Simple first aid skills for road users can dramatically affect the outcome for casualties of road accidents. All new drivers should complete first aid training before they can acquire their license. The time between an accident and the arrival of the emergency services is the crucial moment for first aid provision. People at the scene must have first aid skills and the confidence to apply them.

Source : British Red Cross “Road accidents and first aid”
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”One measure which could be adopted in order to reduce the consequences of accidents would be the application of first aid.”

European Commission’s Priorities in EU Road Safety Progress Report and Ranking of Actions 2000
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First aid has proven it is a low-cost, safe and simple tool in protecting and saving lives.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
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“Delivery of effective first aid is one of the activities of the management of the casualty which is a crucial determinant of the severity of injury eventually received and the chance of survival”

European Transport Safety Council (ETSC),
A strategic road safety plan for the European Union, Brussels, 1997.
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"Every effort must be made to attain as final aim that every motor vehicle...driver should be the holder of a first aid certificate"
Resolution XLIX, XVIIth International Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
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Timely and appropriate treatment of injuries prevents deaths and permanent disabilities (the golden hour rule). Provision of basic first aid training by NGOs or schools to all road-users, police and fire-fighters should be considered.

Estimating Global Road Fatalities, Transport Research Laboratory, DFID.
Source: Jacobs G, A Aeron-Thomas & A Astrop 2000
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Improvement in emergency services, including first aid, has contributed to a reduction in the number of fatalities in Romania.

GRSP Annual report June 2001
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Recalling a fatal accident along the Kano-Jigawa road which resulted in the death of some people, Governor Saminu Turaki stated that lives could have been saved with the presence of help within the area and that prompt attention was required to save victims of accidents.
Governor Saminu Turaki to Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Malam Danyaro Yakassai,, VANGUARD, wed, 26 January 2000
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"Within twenty years, road accidents are likely to be the third biggest killer globally. But greater first aid skills amongst the general public could change that. Time and time again when casualties receive immediate attention, chances of their survival and of their injuries being less severe are increased dramatically,"

Anita Kerwin-Nye- BRITISH RED CROSS.
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Malawi ranked 3rd in Africa in terms of Road traffic Accidents after Nigeria and Ethiopia due to careless driving and lack of First-Aid Drivers Orientation Programmes.
National Road Safety Council of Malawi  (NRSCM)- Third African Road Safety Congress 1997
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It is essential to have training in basic life-support and/or first aid.
The South African Police Service (SAPS). Source: US dept of trans, fed Highway admin. (FHWA)
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Timely and proper treatment of road casualties is essential for reducing the severity of injury to crash victims. Driver education on first aid procedures and correct transportation of crash victims is important.

GRSP
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"It's easy to save lives" - if first aid skills are developed and applied at community level.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
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"The injury severity scores indicated that only a fifth of those who died before reaching hospital had injuries incompatible with life;" "The death of those who died before reaching hospital was potentially preventable in many cases. Moreover, death might have been averted by simple first aid protection of the airway." Letters, Redmond, A D,

BMJ 1994;309:57 (2 July)
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“[Where] bystanders had initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the percentage of patients who survived and returned home with little or no neurological deficit was twice that of patients for whom CPR was not begun until the arrival of the [emergency services]…”-

Cardiovascular study in the USA,1980
Source :British Red Cross.
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“Imagine that a victim has a hemorrhage following a road accident: if nobody applies pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding, even the most sophisticated or the quickest emergency service in the world will only arrive on the scene in time to certify death.”

Dr Eric Bernes, First Aid Manager, IFRC
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First aid is humanity in action, an attitude that can mobilise individuals and communities to protect and save lives, simply and effectively

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

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“At least 39% and up to 85% of preventable pre-hospital deaths may be due to airway obstruction” and all the pre-hospital deaths reported occurred before the arrival of medical help or a paramedic/ambulance crew. This can be resolved by applying simple first aid techniques).

A study carried out in Staffordshire by Hussain and Redmond into pre-hospital deaths.
Source: British Medical Journal
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There will always be a delay between the time an accident occurs and the arrival of the emergency services. Wherever and whenever an accident takes place, those involved and those in the immediate vicinity are best placed to assist. Very simple first aid skills can be learnt in as little as 10 minutes -skills which could possibly save lives and lessen the severity of injuries received

Anita Kerwin-Nye, first aid Advisor, British Red Cross,
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People do not generally expect to be affected by road traffic crashesthey are a horror that affects others. But that is not what the statistics say. About 50% deaths occur at the site of the crash or during transport, and the rest of deaths occur in hospital.

EDITORIAL BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL on Marcel Haegi, President. 
European Federation of Road Traffic Victims.
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Learning even the basics of first aid can both prevent accidents and dramatically reduce the number of deaths and permanent injuries sustained as a consequence. Life-saving actions applied within the very first minutes after an accident can be extremely effective in saving lives and reducing the severity of injuries.

Red Cross in Europe 25 March 2002
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Millions of lives would not be lost to common causes of death such as diarrhea diseases and road accidents if the Red Cross Red Crescent goal to have 10 per cent of the world population - 500 million people - trained in first aid by the year 2010 was met.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
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The knowledge of first aid, when properly applied, can mean the difference between temporary or permanent injury, rapid recovery or long-term disability, and the difference between life and death.
NAVEDTRA 13119 Standard First Aid Course- Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. United States

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The more we can train and mobilise communities and volunteers to First Aid activities, the more effective we will be, and the more we will contribute not only to preventing and alleviating the suffering caused by high-visibility crisis but also to the sustainable development that will counteract the impact of daily crisis.

Dr. Eric Bernes, First Aid Manager, International Federation of Red
Cross Red Crescent Societies
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“Preventable deaths in pre-hospital care are rarely due to availability of advanced techniques but more often to failure [for example] to treat basic ABC [airway, breathing, and circulation] problems.”

Dr Matthew Cooke, Snr. Lecturer at Warwick University and Consultant in Emergency Medicine at University Hospitals, Coventry, and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
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Many lives can be saved by taking care of each other in the traffic and by being able to provide First Aid when road crashes occur. "… Undisputed findings [show] that pre-hospital deaths from injury are not inevitable and that at least some can be prevented by simple first aid measures."

British Medical Journal, 1994