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Fleets called on to support life-saving initiative

Fleet drivers, operators and transport managers are being called upon to support a scheme that could help save lives following road traffic collisions.

Martyn Nash, Vicky Arnold and James Nash of vGroup International

Martyn Nash, Vicky Arnold and James Nash of vGroup International.

Driver First Assist is a not-for-profit company and has been set up specifically to encourage the nation’s drivers, particularly those travelling on business purposes, to join their road safety scheme and take a first aid training course.

Driver First Assist hopes to attract over 100,000 drivers onto their scheme, believing that trained first responders can help reduce road traffic collision fatalities by 46% and that the earliest possible intervention in the absence of the emergency services can significantly improve the outcome for victims reaching hospital.

First Responders will also be shown how the right action at the scene can help prevent road closures, potentially saving £1.5bn to the UK economy.

Already the scheme has been awarded vital funding from the Government via the DfT. Announced by Transport Minister John Hayes last month at the parliamentary launch of Driver First Assist, the money will be used to assist in communicating the benefits of first responder training to a wider audience of professional drivers, fleet operators and transport managers.

Martyn Nash, a director of Driver First Assist and chairman of vGroup International, said: “In business we are all aware of having a designated person or persons in the workplace trained in first aid in order to comply with Health and Safety legislation. But that requirement does not extend for example to a businesses logistics or sales fleet away from base. The Driver First Assist training isn’t onerous and if I’m first on the scene of an accident, why wouldn’t I want to try and help the injured if I knew that the basic skills I’d acquired really could make a positive difference?”

Driver First Assist training courses are held nationwide. All instructors are either serving or recently retired traffic police officers, fire officers or paramedics. The course lasts one day and is accredited by NCFE. The cost of the course is £95 plus VAT and includes a Driver First Assist toolkit comprising hi- vis jacket, first aid kit, ID card, indemnity insurance and membership of the scheme for three years.

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For more of the latest industry news, click here.

Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.