Milton Keynes paramedic warns drink and drug driving can destroy lives in seconds
Nearly two thousand people are killed or seriously injured on UK roads every year due to drink and drug-related collisions
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) is urging people across the region to never drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs, warning that one reckless decision can destroy lives in seconds.
It comes during Road Safety Week which is between November 16th to the 22nd and is organised by the charity Brake.
Figures show nearly 2,000 people a year are killed or seriously injured on UK roads as a result of drink and drug-related collisions.
"These incidents can be prevented and that's the hardest thing about it"
Marketa Ballan, a paramedic based in Milton Keynes and Buckinghamshire paramedic is urging drivers to stay sober behind the wheel.
Speaking to Greatest Hits Radio, she said: “Regardless of the severity of the actual collision, there is always a family, there is always somebody that that is injured and traumatised. It's not only the straightaway injuries that these people might have - it's their non lasting effects as well.”
Adding: “It's absolutely frustrating because these incidents can be prevented and that's the hardest thing about it.”
Ms Ballan also says she will “never forget the night we were called to a crash on a rural road, where a car had left the carriageway and gone straight into a house”.
She said: “Inside the vehicle was a young man, just a passenger, who had been out with friends. One of them, the driver, was intoxicated and lost control.
“The driver fortunately only had minor injuries, but his friend in the passenger seat was in a critical condition. Whilst we were able to save his life and get him to hospital, we were unable to save his leg, and he has been left with life-changing injuries.
“Scenes like that stay with you.”
But what frustrates me is that they’re not ‘freak accidents’ – they’re entirely preventable. No night out, no lift home and no excuse is worth risking a life or a limb.”
According to data from the Ministry of Justice, 36,415 drivers in England and Wales were convicted of drink-driving offences last year - an average of more than 3,000 convictions every month.
Ms Ballan added: “Those numbers are not just statistics on a page – they are families left grieving, people facing amputations, brain injuries and lifelong pain, and emergency teams who have to deliver that news at the roadside or in hospital.”
South Central Ambulance Service is encouraging people to plan their journeys home before they go out, never get in a car with a driver who has been drinking or using drugs, look out for friends, and remember that alcohol and some drugs can stay in your system; you can still be over the limit or impaired the next day.