Events in Extremadura: The woman who was critically injured this morning after a head-on collision in Plasencia dies

The 69-year-old woman who was critically injured after a traffic accident near Plasencia this Tuesday morning has died in hospital. The victim was in critical condition, polytraumatized, at the Virgen del Puerto hospital in the town of Placentina and was transferred to the Universitario de Cáceres. As confirmed by the Extremadura Health Service TODAY, the woman has died on the way between the two hospitals.

Specifically, the accident took place at 10:15 a.m. at kilometer 463 of the national road 630, in the municipality of Plasencia, according to data provided by the Civil Guard.

Two other people were injured in the incident, although they have already been discharged.

A medical unit from the SES based in Plaencia, a Basic Life Support team and patrols from the Civil Traffic Guard, as well as a road cleaning team, have attended the scene of the accident.

Traffic was temporarily diverted from the A-66 motorway until the damaged vehicles have been removed.

How to act in an accident

The Penal Code establishes as “mandatory” to attend to people who need help. In addition, the Traffic Law of the DGT considers the omission of relief to be “very serious”. In any case, it is very likely that nerves will make us make mistakes, and even forget the steps that we must follow to properly care for the victims.

To protect

1. Park your vehicle in a safe place, if possible before the accident and off the road where it does not get in the way or cause new traffic accidents. The first step is to protect both yourself and the victims.

2. Turn off the vehicle, apply the parking brake and put on the hazard lights.

3. Before leaving the vehicle, put on the reflective vest.

4. Take the warning triangles and signal the traffic accident; if it is two-way, 50 meters in both directions and if it is one way, such as motorways, the first one at 50 meters and the other, if necessary, at a minimum of 150 meters.

5. Remove the ignition keys from the accident car and apply the parking brake, if the circumstances make it possible.

6. Avoid possible sources of ignition, for example smoking near the accident site.

7. Do not change the state of the vehicles or the victims, unless this poses a danger to traffic or to the victims themselves.

Warn

The next step is to notify, if you witness a traffic accident you must be aware of the importance of being the first witness as an essential element to efficiently activate the emergency services. At European level there is an emergency telephone number, 112. Remember to notify the accident correctly and with as much information as possible about the place of the incident. You have to be brief and concise when transferring the data; on some occasions, due to the severity of the accident, the line may be overloaded. In that case you must call alternative telephone numbers.

Help

The last step is to help, it is not enough to be supportive, it is necessary to know and apply a series of knowledge and techniques. A hasty action or not knowing the appropriate techniques could aggravate the condition of the victims and cause unrecoverable sequelae. If you don’t know what to do, do nothing. Before carrying out any rescue maneuver at the scene of the accident, it is considered necessary to carry out an assessment of your own safety and that of the injured. This way you can avoid being the rescued rescuer.

1. You can only help if you have basic knowledge of first aid.

2. In the event of the accident being a motorcyclist, do not remove the helmet.

3. Do not rescue people from unstable vehicles.

4. If any victim needs it, open the airway.

5. Compress bleeding wounds.

6. Do not move the victim if you do not know, except in situations of risk due to imminent fire or explosion.

7. Loosen clothing that constricts victims.

8. Protect victims from cold or heat.

9. Do not give victims anything to drink or eat.