Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – Chairman of the Saudi Red Crescent Authority Prince Faisal Bin Abdullah said on Wednesday any official or citizen creating obstacles before rescue operations would face penal action. He said the authority would file formal complaints with concerned bodies against anyone found preventing paramedics from carrying out their tasks, the Saudi Press Agency reported. "Our religion teaches us to protect human life at any cost. Certain forbidden matters would become permissible in dire situations,” Prince Faisal said, adding that social taboos that have no place in religion or law should not come in the way of efforts to save people's lives. He said every minute that passes without providing first aid to disaster victims would reduce their chances of survival. He appealed to all government and private bodies in general and educational institutions in particular to train their staff and students on the basics of first aid. "This would contribute greatly in protecting valuable human life," Prince Faisal said. He stressed the importance of raising people's awareness about rescue missions and the need to avoid crowding around accident scenes. "Crowds of onlookers often prevent air ambulances from landing at accident sites and obstruct paramedics from reaching victims in time," he said.
