Basil Jarrett | From compassion to clicks: Why we need a national emergency response campaign

MONDAY’S TRAGIC accident along the Bustamante Highway has left us grappling with profound questions about not only the safety of our rural transportation system, but also how we, as a society, respond in moments of crisis.

As a parent, I was emotionally shaken as I watched viral videos of two young lives being lost, with two more hanging in the balance. As the bereaving families, the Lennon High School community, and indeed all of Clarendon struggle to process their grief, the haunting reality of this incident isn’t just the tragedy itself, but the behaviour of onlookers who stood by, recording the scene instead of offering meaningful help.

I have repeatedly derided this practice. It’s one of the things fuelling my hatred for social media. The viral, chilling images of a young girl, visibly still alive, lying along the roadside while cell phones hovered above her, capturing every agonising second for social media ‘likes’, is as tragic as the accident itself. This is not just a failure of our systems; it’s a failure of our humanity. And if we don’t address this, more lives will be needlessly lost, not just to accidents but to apathy.

WHEN CAMERAS REPLACE COMPASSION

In an era of instant uploads, social media influencers and viral content, the urge to document everything has eclipsed our basic instincts to help. It’s as if humanity has been replaced by hashtags and Tik Tok, and aiding the injured has taken a back seat to chasing, or rather, pursuing likes. This accident highlighted the worst of this modern affliction.

And yes, I am aware that bystanders weren’t medical professionals trained to respond to mass casualty events such as this one, but who among you, having viewed these images, would suggest that more could not be done? Couldn’t someone have stepped up, taken control and ensured that the injured were moved immediately into an awaiting vehicle and rushed to the nearest hospital? In a country where ambulances are often unavailable or delayed, this act could have meant the difference between life and death.

Instead, there were the videos and the photos and the likes and ‘shares’, splashed across timelines and WhatsApp groups.

THE AGONY OF ‘WHAT IF’

As a parent, the thought is unbearable: your child, lying hurt on the cold asphalt, surrounded by strangers who hold phones instead of hands. What must those final moments have been like for her? Did she look into the faces of those standing over her, hoping for help that never came? The thought makes me sick to my stomach. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, including mine. And yet, it has become an alarming reality in Jamaica. When did we forget how to act in emergencies? When did recording grief become more important than relieving it? When did we lose our humanity? These are questions that every single Jamaican must ask themselves today.

THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL CAMPAIGN

I don’t want to get into the causes of the accident or who is to be blamed? There’s enough of that flying about. I want to focus on the very immediate aftermath of the accident and the lack of common sense that followed. Is this a cultural problem or a national emergency?

Once again we are hearing calls for a rural transportation system for schools and I support that call. But perhaps now, too, is the time for a robust, public- and private- sector-led education campaign to teach Jamaicans how to respond in time of crises such as these.

Such a campaign, I believe, should focus on three key areas, namely, basic emergency response and first aid training, ethical use of social media technology, and very importantly, crisis response in the absence of ambulances of emergency vehicles.

The first should equip citizens with the basics of first aid, as well as knowledge of what to do during an accident. From moving injured persons safely to administering basic first aid, this training should be accessible and widespread across all demographics, communities and parishes. In regard to the ethical use of technology, we must also begin to teach the public about the harmful effects of recording victims in their most vulnerable moments. It should reinforce the idea that respect and compassion must take precedence over digital content creation, hashtags and likes.

Finally, and this is probably the most critical, we must begin to develop a set of crisis response protocols for situations where no ambulance or emergency vehicle is available. In a country where emergency and hospital services are stretched thin, citizens must understand how to take immediate action when professional help isn’t available. This includes transporting victims safely and knowing which nearby hospitals can provide urgent care.

LEARNING FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

Countries like Singapore, Japan, Norway, the UK and Canada have made first aid training a compulsory part of their school curriculum. This has the dual effect of their citizens growing up with life-saving, resuscitation skills, but also a sense of duty towards those in need. Jamaica can, and must, adopt similar measures. By introducing mandatory first aid training in schools and communities, we can prepare our citizens to be first responders in tragedies such as Monday’s.

Additionally, public awareness campaigns, much like the ones that have successfully shifted behaviours in road safety or recycling efforts, can help dismantle this bystander videographer phenomenon and create a culture where helping becomes instinctual, not optional.

BEYOND SOCIAL MEDIA: A CALL TO HUMANITY

And this is probably where most of my anger is coming from. Social media has connected us in unprecedented ways, but it has also disconnected us from our humanity. It’s a powerful tool for advocacy, awareness, and connection, but it should never come at the expense of basic human empathy.

To those who recorded Monday’s tragedy, perhaps you thought you were helping by ‘bringing attention’ to the issue. But here’s the harsh truth – that attention didn’t save the lives lost on Bustamante Highway. But action might have.

To every parent out there reading this, I implore you. This evening when you go home, stop to take a minute to hug and squeeze your kids. It’s the only way I can think of to honour the memories of those youngsters on Monday.

Major Basil Jarrett is a communi-cations strategist and CEO of Artemis Consulting. Visit him at www.thecrisismajor.com. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.