Red Cross trains Abuja e-hailing drivers on emergency roadside first aid

The Nigerian Red Cross Society has trained e-hailing drivers in Abuja on emergency roadside first aid and crash casualty management to improve survival rates during road accidents.

The initiative, implemented through the Red Cross Social Enterprise in partnership with ride-hailing platform Bolt, seeks to equip commercial drivers with practical skills to act as initial first responders before professional medical teams arrive at the scene.

Speaking during the practical session in Abuja on Tuesday, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Red Cross Social Enterprise, Gbubemi Uba, emphasised that because e-hailing drivers operate continuously on urban roads, they are frequently among the first individuals to encounter road accidents.

She said, “Like you rightly know, drivers are always on the road. So, in cases of motor accidents on the road, they are most likely to be the first responders. All we are trying to do with this training is to ensure that they have all the technical skills, as well as the confidence, to be able to respond when they find such a crisis.”

Uba noted that improper handling of accident victims by untrained bystanders often worsens injuries, sometimes resulting in permanent disability.

She said, “What statistics have shown us is that when there’s an accident, the victim has very few seconds before death. So, if you have a first responder there, you’ll be able to administer first aid before the professional medical team comes in.

“The method of carrying them can actually lead to them becoming paralysed at the end of the day. So, this training is just to train the drivers on how to position them and how to carry them before the medical team arrives.”

The Driver Community Manager for Bolt Nigeria, David Ohuka, highlighted that emergency intervention within the initial minutes of a crash often determines survival.

He said, “We are training some of our driver partners on first aid and emergency response. As a company, we are big on safety. So, equipping our drivers with these skills helps them be better prepared for incidents that occur on the road.

“And them knowing these skills keeps our society safer because our drivers are in a unique position around cities. This means that they are most likely to be among the first people to arrive at the scene of an accident. So, equipping our drivers with these skills helps make our drivers and our cities safer.”

Ohuka stated that the Abuja workshop serves as a pilot phase for a broader rollout planned across other major urban centres in Nigeria, including Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan and Calabar. Participating drivers were also provided with first aid kits to maintain readiness on the road.

“What’s happening here right now is just the pilot programme. We intend to scale this across the cities that Bolt is operational in. Currently, Bolt is operational in 12 cities in Nigeria, and we plan to go to as many cities as possible. So, from here, we’ll be looking at Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Calabar and the rest. We’ll just keep going,” he said.

The Head of Training at the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Audu Goji, explained that the programme combines digital theoretical learning with hands-on practical exercises.

According to him, these include placing unconscious victims in the recovery position, administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation, controlling severe bleeding, immobilising fractures and carrying out safe patient transport.

“Today, because they have used the app and read all the theoretical components of first aid, they are coming for the practical aspect. We teach them some simple ways of picking up casualties so that the casualty will be safe, and how to handle the casualty from the scene into the car, so that they will have the skills.”