Until now, Mr. Nguyen Dinh The - Secretary of the Thanh Thuy Commune Youth Union (Thanh Chuong) and Head of the Youth Volunteer Team participating in first aid for traffic accidents and injuries in the locality, still remembers clearly the rainy night in July 5 years ago. It was around 22:30 on the night of July 16, 2018, in Thanh Thuy Commune, there was heavy rain, Mr. Nguyen Quang Son, residing in Thanh Xuan Commune (Thanh Chuong) was driving his motorbike home, due to slippery roads and limited visibility, he had a traffic accident.
Fortunately, at this time, a local resident discovered and immediately reported to the newly established Youth Union. At that time, despite heavy rain, strong winds and the middle of the night, the Youth Union members of the Union were very quick to arrive to help the victim. At the scene, Mr. Nguyen Quang Son was lying unconscious in the pouring rain. The Youth Union coordinated and supported the transport of the victim to Thanh Thuy Commune Health Station for first aid. After that, the victim was transferred to Nghe An General Hospital for treatment due to severe trauma and a broken jaw.
Most recently, on March 10, 2023, at around 5:45 p.m., also on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, an Australian tourist was cycling across Vietnam when he unfortunately had a traffic accident. Upon receiving a report from the local people, the Youth Volunteer Team quickly arrived at the scene, helped transport the tourist to Thanh Thuy Commune Health Station for first aid and bandaging, then directly took the victim to Thanh Chuong District General Hospital for emergency treatment.
Talking about the birth of the model, Thanh Thuy Commune Youth Union Secretary - Mr. Nguyen Dinh The shared: As a locality with many major roads passing through, including 24km of National Highway 46; 10km of Ho Chi Minh Road and more than 30km of inter-village and inter-commune roads, Thanh Thuy commune often has many serious traffic accidents. On May 22, 2018, the Commune Youth Union Executive Committee decided to establish a Youth Shock Team to participate in first aid and emergency treatment for traffic accidents and injuries with 13 team members. The specific task of the team is to propagate and mobilize union members, youth and the masses to be aware of traffic safety; directly participate in first aid and emergency treatment for traffic accidents, prevent drowning and injuries in the area. The team also coordinates with the Commune Police Department to protect the scene when traffic accidents occur.
Since its establishment, the Thanh Thuy Commune Youth Union has participated in first aid and timely emergency transportation for victims of 30 traffic accidents. Most of them are from other localities. Thanks to timely first aid and emergency transportation, many people have escaped the risk of death. The valuable thing is that the means of transporting victims to the emergency room is mainly the personal vehicle of Team Leader Nguyen Dinh The. We asked: "Many people are taboo when transporting victims to the emergency room in their own car, fearing that the victims will die on the road. Aren't you afraid?". Nguyen Dinh The immediately replied: "As long as I can save the victim's life, I am happy! I do good things, so why should I be afraid?"
In some localities along National Highway 1A, the model of Youth Volunteer Teams for First Aid and Rapid Response to Traffic Accidents has been established and maintained, operating quite effectively, such as in Dien Ky Commune (Dien Chau), Hoang Mai Town... According to the assessment of the functional sector, with a total length of 73.8 km passing through Nghe An, National Highway 1A is a route with complicated traffic conditions, often with serious traffic accidents. Therefore, maintaining Youth Volunteer Teams for First Aid and Rapid Response to Traffic Accidents is necessary and highly humane, not only helping victims receive timely first aid but also contributing to traffic flow, keeping the scene undisturbed, helping authorities accurately investigate the cause of the incident. Currently, this model has been replicated in many localities such as: Quynh Luu, Hung Nguyen, Thanh Chuong, Quy Hop, Quy Chau, Que Phong, Thai Hoa Town, Nghia Dan, Do Luong, Tuong Duong, Yen Thanh, Tan Ky...
Another model that has been effectively implemented by youth unions at all levels is the construction of safe roads and self-managed youth roads. In Yen Thanh district, traffic accidents occur frequently on rural roads, especially when students carelessly play soccer and volleyball in the middle of the road; motor vehicles carrying construction materials drop sand and gravel; trees on both sides of the road are not cleared, leading to obstructing the view of traffic participants... The Standing Committee of Yen Thanh District Youth Union has chosen to deploy the pilot model of "Self-managed youth roads for security and order" in Nam Thanh commune. Accordingly, on weekends, youth union members are present on the roads to propagate and mobilize people to strictly comply with traffic laws and behave civilly when participating in traffic; clear trees; check the system of markers and signs to inform the authorities to maintain and repair promptly when damaged.
From the success in Nam Thanh commune, the model of "Youth self-management route for security and order" has now been replicated in all 39 communes and towns in Yen Thanh district. Ms. Pham Thi Huyen Trang - Secretary of Yen Thanh District Youth Union shared: After the model of "Youth self-management route for security and order" was deployed, with the creativity of young people, union members and young people in localities collected old tires to repair and design them into traffic signs and safety signs to put up on the roads. Thereby contributing to reducing traffic accidents and raising awareness of people, especially young people when participating in traffic.
In Do Luong district, the "self-managed youth route" was also deployed with specific criteria, in which the "5 no's" were emphasized: No encroachment on sidewalks and roads; no activities causing public disorder; no violations of the Road Traffic Law; no littering; no sloppy advertising. To ensure that the roads are clear and safe, on weekends, the "volunteer green shirt soldiers" organized to clear trees on both sides of the road, fill potholes, clear sewers, creating favorable conditions for people to travel. In addition, the Youth Union bases also established a shock force to ensure safety with a scale of 10-15 youth union members as the core in propaganda and education on traffic safety laws, participating in coordination with functional agencies to handle traffic safety situations on the roads; support victims in case of accidents... Many localities also smoothly combine the construction of "Self-managed routes", "Safe routes" associated with "Safe and civilized school gates" or "Youth flag roads" and "Lighting up the countryside roads" which are recognized and highly appreciated.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thuy - Deputy Secretary of Nghe An Provincial Youth Union shared: Currently, in the whole province, 100% of districts and towns have built a model of self-managed youth routes, on average each district has 10-15 routes that are self-managed by youth for security, order and traffic safety. In the coming time, we will continue to direct the grassroots youth unions, strengthen coordination and cooperation with mass organizations to replicate the models of "Civilized Streets", "Roads without traffic accidents". At the same time, deploy the signing of commitments to implement traffic culture rules and standards to 100% of local and unit union members, contributing to creating changes in behavior when participating in traffic for a large number of youth union members.
In addition to the core force of the youth union, since 2018, the Nghe An Provincial Veterans Association has also coordinated with the Provincial Traffic Safety Committee to carry out the campaign "Vietnamese Veterans participate in maintaining traffic order and safety, building traffic culture". After 5 years of launching, the Veterans Association at all levels has built 6,892 models of all kinds. Of which, 925 "Safe School Gates" are undertaken by the association at all levels. Typically, in Quan Hanh town (Nghi Loc), in the past, because the gates of primary and secondary schools in the area were all located on the same road and only 100m apart, every time school was out, a large number of students and parents gathered, causing frequent traffic jams.
Faced with this situation, the Veterans Association of Residential Group No. 3, Quan Hanh Town, has advised the authorities on how to solve the traffic "black spots" in the area. Accordingly, from 4-5 pm on weekdays, the Veterans force of Residential Group No. 3 is present in front of the gates of primary and secondary schools in the area to ensure security and order. In addition to marking the road, printing banners, placing no-parking signs on the sidewalk for pedestrians, etc., the veterans also divide the lanes and directly guide traffic for parents and students to walk on the right side of the road. Thanks to that, the chaotic situation after school has almost disappeared. Mr. Tran Duc Nhan - Head of Residential Group No. 3, Quan Hanh Town, said: "For the past 3 years, the neighborhood has recorded no more collisions occurring in front of the school gate during rush hour. We highly appreciate the safe school gate model that the Veterans Association is implementing."
Along with the efforts of associations, the propaganda work to raise awareness of traffic laws through self-management models has also received attention from functional sectors. Nghe An Police alone has so far presided over and coordinated the construction of 61 models to ensure traffic safety, including 39 self-management models for road and railway traffic safety. Through the models, there has been a change in the awareness and consciousness of traffic participants, contributing to the fight to contain and reduce traffic accidents in the area.
In 2023, the Provincial People's Committee also assigned Nghe An Provincial Youth Union to coordinate with relevant units to build and replicate at least 10 youth models with traffic safety. However, according to Ms. Nguyen Thi Quynh - Head of the Provincial Youth Union's Propaganda Department, there are currently a number of models that are not really effective and are still seasonal, so it is necessary to select and build models that are in-depth and sustainable. Even with models that have been replicated, such as youth volunteer teams for first aid and rapid response to traffic accidents, they are facing certain difficulties, especially the issue of funding for operations. Therefore, in addition to training and providing additional knowledge and skills, it is necessary to study funding support plans to create favorable conditions for models to operate more effectively.
On the other hand, although the current traffic accident situation has decreased, it is still complicated. In the first 6 months of 2023, there were 94 traffic accidents in Nghe An, killing 61 people and injuring 67 people. In particular, the age group causing the accident was under 18 and under 27, with 21 cases, killing 15 people and injuring 22 people. The main cause was due to the driver driving on the wrong side of the road, lane, changing direction improperly, not giving way, not controlling speed; avoiding and overtaking vehicles improperly... From the beginning of 2023 to now, the Traffic Police Department of the Provincial Police alone has handled 463 cases of people under 30 years old violating traffic safety order. Therefore, it is necessary to have more synchronous and drastic solutions to create changes in the behavior of young people participating in traffic...
