Mandatory first-aid kits missing on Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses in the city

A few days ago, when Jenitha, an employee of a government sector undertaking was travelling by a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus, a broken window glass pierced through her arm. She was swarmed by anxious co-passengers, who tried everything from pressing the wound to tying a kerchief to stop the bleeding. Later, she went to a clinic to get the wound dressed. Today, when she

recollects the incident, she says that the bus would have been the last place for her to get any medical help. “I wanted to ask the conductor for cottonwool or Dettol from the firstaid kit on MTC buses. But having travelled by bus for so many years, I haven’t seen a first-aid box in the designated place (on the panel behind the driver’s seat),” says Jenitha. 

As per the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 vehicles with permits ought to have a first aid box on board. The box must have sterilised finger dressing, hand and foot dressing, burn dressing, cotton wool and tincture iodine. It also says that the conductor of the bus must ensure that the vehicle carries such kits with the prescribed contents. Those who regularly use public transport, like Sagaya Sharmila, who has been taking the bus from Nandanam to her place of work in Anna Nagar for the last 15 years, say that until a few years ago they could spot these kits on buses. “I have seen it in the small compartment behind the driver’s seat in the green PTC buses. Now I only see nails in place of the panel.”

When she spoke to a conductor about this, he told her that they had much larger issues to be addressed, such as badly maintained buses. Sharmila points out that if the Transport Corporation was hiking fares every now and again, the money they earned ought to be used for the benefit of passengers too. “The ride is so rickety on some buses that every time the driver applies the brakes, people who are standing are likely to fall and hurt themselves. I have seen this happen to many passengers. If they are badly hurt, they are taken to a nearby clinic, but there is no first aid available on the buses,” the kits were mandatory and had to be positioned behind the driver’s seat, said that he would soon look into the matter and take the necessary steps to ensure the rule is followed.

No. of Depots- 27

Fleet- 3798

No. of Routes- 806

No.of Employees- 24052

Passengers- 51.84 per day Lakhs

Avg.Collection Rs300.34 per day Lakhs

Prabhudoss B, head of Marketing and Hospital Relations, 108 and 104 helplines, says that first aid kids were a must on all kinds of public transport, not MTC buses alone. Apart from the prescribed rule not being followed by buses, he also said there is a need for increased awareness on the part of general public. “MTC buses must stock first-aid kits during fitness tests on the vehicle. It is usually kept on the panel above the driver’s seat to ensure it is visible to all passengers. Later, some buses had it in the extreme left and the space behind the driver’s seat was leased out for advertisements. But the big question is how many of us know that first aid kits are there in all the vehicles we buy, whether two-wheeler or four-wheeler. After the first service, it seems to disappear. We have been unfailingly creating awareness during World First Aid Day, but I think it will take a while for everyone to become conscious of the importance of these kits,” he says.