Red Cross deploys first-aid teams in City

Kathmandu, January 23:

The Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), Kathmandu, today deployed emergency first aid teams in the capital in response to the ongoing protest programmes of the students unions.

The teams treated over 24 people who were injured in course of protests.

Thirty-five first-aid team members, along with five members of the District Disaster Response Team (DDRT), were assigned in different parts of the capital where protests were intense. They provided treatment to 25 cases of injuries, and four people were taken to hospital for further treatment.

“The injuries were high in Thamel and Ratnapark areas,” Shakya said.

NRCS secretary Sangha Ratna Shakya said volunteers were deployed in vulnerable places like Ratnapark, Putalisadak, Kalanki, Baneshwor, Balkhu, Gongabu and other demonstration-prone areas. He said: “When mobs get onto the streets, clashes and casualties are likely and the NRCS has to have volunteers to prevent greater loss.”

“Volunteers were moved to places to avert losses,” he said.

The volunteers were mobilised in line with instructions of members of the Emergency Response Teams. The NRCS also had two ambulances moving round the capital the whole day.

The first aid and DDRT are capable of rescuing people from critical conditions like treating them for cuts, burns, sprained ankles, legs and other minor injuries.