DWC paramedic students run 'Seat Belt' campaign at Dubai Women's College

The event was initiated by Khalid Al Balooshi, year 3 paramedic student at the college, who was shocked into action last January when he was called to the scene of an accident in Al Warqa, Dubai during a paramedic work placement.

The five young men who had to be extracted from the vehicle were his friends. Four of them died - the only one who survived was the one wearing the seat belt.

"Most of them had head injuries because they were thrown around the car. The one who had been in the front seat was found in the back. If he had worn his seat belt, he might have been saved, like the driver," says Khalid.

A female paramedic student, says, "Nearly every case we go to as a paramedic is a road traffic accident. This disease is killing our generation. These fatalities must stop."

The students requested the College Director, Dr Howard Reed, for permission to run a college-wide campaign to urge young Emiratis to wear their seat belts, as part of this year's traffic week.

Mr. Omar Ashoor, Major Expert from Dubai Police, was also invited to the presentation. At the hour-long event, the organizers presented a video for an interview with the sole survivor of the Al Warqa accident, and a short video drama (featuring themselves) to illustrate their point.

They also shared the results of a 3-day survey carried out with DWC student services. The results showed that the vast majority of students were not belted when they left or entered the college campus, despite the fact that wearing a belt increases the chance of survival in a road traffic accident by 60%.

Reasons given for not wearing a seat belt were 'it messes up my dress', 'it's not comfortable'. At the event, students had the chance to ask Major Omar Ashoor questions about the issue.

"If the message comes from Emirati paramedic students to fellow Emirati students, it will have more effect than coming from the teachers," says Khalid.

Another female paramedic student, a mother of five pointed out that campaigns in schools are making young children aware of the need for seat belts, but the current generation of teenagers has missed out on this.

Just last week, Gulf news reported 2008 figures showing that approximately 25% of fatalities in RTAs in the UAE were of Emirati nationals, although Emiratis represent just 8% of the population. The students believe this figure could be much lower if people wore seat belts.

The paramedics are hoping to take the message to more groups of students, both at DWC and beyond. "This is going to become a college rule; we want to see every DWC student wearing a seat belt when they leave the College in a car," said Dr Reed.