alert VoICE – Ms. Kala Balasundaram
Incident Information
VoICE Name()- Kala Balasundaram
VoICE ID() - ALTN000876AA/2023
Incident Handled On () - 20-06-2023
Date Of Issue () - 02-08-2023
On June 20, 2023, during my visit to Mt.Titlis, Switzerland, I was walking on a heavy iron hanging bridge on the top of the mountain at 10,000 feet. Midway through the bridge, I saw some heavy blood stains on the steel rods. Just about a 100 mts away, I could see a young Chinese lady who seemed to be a bit mentally challenged, bleeding profusely from her knees and with some bruises on both her palms. Apparently, she has had a nasty fall and the two people, who had accompanied her, were applying pressure to her knees with the tissues they had in hand, to arrest the bleeding.
I rushed to the spot and asked them if they had any napkin or towel to tie around the wound. By then, a few other tourists started gathering around. It was then when another American woman approached me and said “I have a Sani-pad with me, would it help?”, I said a spontaneous yes, and took it from her and asked the Chinese man, who was accompanying the victim to wrap it around the bleeding knee.
The moment I said this, he was going to remove the bunch of tissues from the knee, which by now was drenched with blood. But I stopped him from removing it and requested him to place the sani-pad on top of the tissues. Even as he was placing the sanitary napkin around her knee, another lady pulled out her jacket from her back bag and rolled it up like a thin piece of cloth and tied it around the knee to keep the tissues and Sani-pad in place. Meanwhile, another lady from India, came over and pulled out 2 band-aid strips from her bag, which was immediately put on the bruises on the palm. With the wounds neatly packed, I saw the wounded lady walking away slowly with her arms around her loved one.
This is to me, a classic example of how the First response and Good Samaritans ought to be, in a situation where nothing is within our control and where we have no access to any first aid kit. Its sheer willingness to help, presence of mind to use what we have with us, accompanied with some training on the first response skills.
By Ms. Kala Balasundaram
