Dr Maya Tandon, a retired anesthesiologist, has devoted her post-retirement years to making Indian roads safer.

The 87-year-old trains people in road safety through her organisation ‘Sahayta Trust’.

Over the past 30 years, she claims to have trained over 1,33,000 people in road safety, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), sequential handling, and protocol dealings with accidents.

Born in Ajmer, Dr Maya pursued an MS in anaesthesia followed by a fellowship in paediatric anaesthesia from London.

She has worked at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur throughout her career.

Set to retire in 1985, she was approached by the Rajasthan Police Academy for the three-day course on road safety and lifesaving — this changed the trajectory of her life!

A few months after the course, a photographer who had covered the event called Dr Maya and told her that she had saved his life.

The photographer had been in an accident and could feel bleeding in his inner thighs and back.

“He asked someone to lift him and put him in a certain position that slowed the bleeding,” she narrates, adding that this timely move reduced the blood loss and saved the photographer’s life.

“His words and appreciation made me realise the importance of offering such courses. It also revealed the sad reality of the state of road safety in India. Not one of the persons in the crowd knew life-saving steps,” she says.

That’s when she started the Sahayta Trust to change the scenario of road safety in India and educate people on first aid and life-saving steps.

All the courses are free and conducted to raise awareness about CPR, proper handling techniques, and protocols for dealing with accidents.

The trust conducts seminars, workshops and classes. They also conduct rallies and street plays to raise awareness.

“Check for head injuries and bleeding; once you have secured what the problem is, you can act accordingly. If a person’s lungs and heart are giving out, resorting to CPR is the best way. Time is of the essence when there is internal bleeding. If a person is suffering from cardiac arrest, only an external CPR can help,” she advises.

What to do in case of a road accident:

1. The first 10 seconds are most crucial when giving first aid. 2. Perform CPR if a person’s lungs and heart are failing. 3. Check for head injuries and bleeding. 4. Act fast and call for help as time is crucial in cases of internal bleeding.