Road safety training organisation Driver First Assist has launched Skills for Safer Journeys – a new online training course which could dramatically improve safety for road users.

Driver First Assist CEO David Higginbottom said deaths from RTCs often occur within four minutes, whereas the target time for an ambulance to arrive (if the call is life-threatening) is eight minutes

The 90-minute online course is designed to give all drivers crucial skills to support at the scene of an on-road incident, regardless of the type of vehicle they drive, turning them into qualified first responders.

The course – which can be completed in stages – teaches how to make critical decisions using the principals of dynamic risk assessment, safely park at the scene of an incident, gather crucial information for the emergency services, make the perfect 999 call, and provide first-aid assistance prior to the arrival of paramedics.

Driver First Assist CEO David Higginbottom said: “Last year there were 1,633 fatalities from road collisions in Great Britain – the equivalent of more than three ‘superjumbos’ falling out of the sky. In too many cases, the victims didn’t die because of the collision; they died as the first people on scene didn’t know what to do.”

Sir Keith Porter, Emeritus Professor of Traumatology at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, explained: “We know many patients die at the scene of road traffic collisions because of a failure to open an airway, or to arrest external haemorrhage. The Driver First Assist course will empower drivers to deliver life-saving skills, helping to keep a patient alive in those valuable minutes before the ambulance arrives. This course also gives drivers the confidence to ensure they fully appreciate the importance of scene safety and good communication with the emergency services. The more first responders we have, the better. Could that be you?”

A World Health Organization report on road traffic injury prevention found that within high-income countries, 50% of deaths from road traffic crashes occur within minutes of the incident occurring. It pointed out those who are present or who arrive first at the scene of a crash can play an important role in contacting the emergency services, securing the scene to prevent further incidents, and applying first aid. It found many deaths from airway obstruction or external haemorrhage could have been avoided by lay bystanders trained in first aid.

Death from a blocked airway typically occurs in about four minutes, whilst NHS England’s target time for an ambulance to arrive if the call is life threatening is eight minutes.

Skills for Safer Journeys has been developed by Driver First Assist as an affordable and effective solution for training drivers to assess road risks. Available at dfa-online.co.uk, it costs £47.50 (ex-VAT) per driver for lifetime access, with discounts for bulk purchases.

Higginbottom concludes: “Drivers injured or falling ill on the road should not experience worse outcomes than their non-mobile counterparts. Our vision is to turn hundreds of thousands of drivers on UK roads into qualified first responders.”