Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The state government released a standard operating procedure (SOP) on post-crash assistance on Tuesday, laying out the duties and responsibilities of several departments involved in ensuring that the wounded victims receive rapid aid. Usha Padhee, the secretary for transportation, claims that the SOP was created to prevent delays in action by field-level officials, particularly police, regional transport officers (RTOs), and medical authorities, so that the concerned officials can begin rescue operations without needing permission from their superior authorities.
Sanjay Mital, secretary of the Supreme Court committee on road safety, attended the inauguration of the SOP and expressed his appreciation for the government’s efforts to promote road safety. In the past ten years, there have been over 45,000 road fatalities in Odisha, with children who were the primary breadwinners for their families accounting for almost 70% of these fatalities. Compared to the national average of 36.5%, Odisha has a mortality rate of 48.5%. In a letter to at least 10 stakeholder departments, the police commissioner, collectors, and SPs, Padhee emphasized the SOP and emphasized the need to enhance post-crash support to the accident victims.
To keep track of the cranes, ambulances, Rakshak volunteers, and rescue vehicles in their area and link them with the corresponding police stations, RTOs have been required to create databases. The RTO is required by the SOP to notify the relevant police station, the hospital, and the Rakshak volunteers—first responders trained to aid accident victims—immediately after obtaining information on an accident. The RTO will also make arrangements for an ambulance and a rescue vehicle to be close by the accident scene. The RTO would use money from the road safety fund to cover the expense of such logistics. According to the SOP, if necessary, the RTO must set up cranes and work with the relevant police officers to move the accident cars off the road.
