EVEN IF YOU ONLY WATCH American and European crime and thriller movies and TV shows moderately, you must be surprised very often at how many times people simply do not die when they are involved in car crashes and shooting incidents.

When some of us were children, we explained this using sing-song phrases like “Cowboy never die, if he die, never rot…” or told ourselves these were simply ‘camera tricks’.

That made sense.

The research out there (figures generally off the internet) says that in the US – suspect number one when we think of gun-related deaths – 47,000 people were killed in gun-related incidents in 2023 alone.

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/

The same research also says that 200 people survive gunshot-related incidents EVERY DAY.

Do you need math? That means that in the US about 120,000 people get shot every year; 47,000 of those die, and 73,000 of them survive.

61% of the people who get shot in the US stay alive.

The US National Institutes of Health even released a report in 2024 that said 20,000 of their people suffer gunshot wounds TO THE HEAD but still get treatment.

And this is NOT because they are cowboys who never die.

Here’s one report explanation:

“People in the US survive gunshot wounds through a combination of factors, including rapid medical intervention, advancements in trauma care, and the location and severity of the injury…”

The report continues with “‘Rapid Medical Intervention.’ Time is critical. Prompt access to medical care, including emergency services and trauma centers, is crucial for survival.

‘Initial Assessment and Resuscitation.’ Upon arrival at the hospital, doctors and nurses will assess the injuries and initiate resuscitation measures, such as stabilizing blood pressure, managing breathing, and controlling bleeding.

‘Surgical Intervention.’ Depending on the nature and location of the injury, surgery may be necessary to remove the bullet, repair damaged organs or blood vessels, and address other injuries.

‘Post-operative Care.’ Post-operative care includes monitoring the patient’s condition, administering medications, and providing wound care.”

I am not thinking about this because of a surge in gunshot-related shootings in Uganda or East Africa, and I have not moved to the US.

On Friday at the launch of a road safety and responsible drinking initiative by Uganda Breweries, the Uganda Red Cross Society’s Secretary General, Robert Kwesiga, made us all stop and think.

Two things he said that got pinned in our minds: first, that most people in our country die needlessly because too few of you know first aid; second, that the Red Cross has a number of ambulances positioned at black spots where accidents often occur (in Kampala and Greater Kampala, I presume).

First Aid: It is so simple that I took my first training before I was ten years old and have had several more since. I have used some of it in the past with different results because of the other circumstances raised above.

What Kwesiga said should be obvious to those of you who attended school beyond the age of ten, however elementary.

Organised companies even train their employees in First Aid and deploy them so that every space containing a certain number of people has a First Aid champion or leader in the event of an emergency.

But now you, with your education, money in the bank, large house with a compound, and domestic staff…how many of those staff have you trained in First Aid techniques of any nature?

We all know the answer. Have you read the story about the diplomat in a conflict with his wife and their loss of a young child?

In your home, do you have a First Aid box with emergency items like bandages et al? Or do you have a piece of furniture or bottles of alcohol that cost ten times the cost of a well-equipped first aid box…or a fire extinguisher?

We should generally be ashamed of ourselves. People in the US are surviving gunshot wounds TO THE HEAD, while our relatives and friends here are dying from being choked by boiled cassava or tripping on uneven stairs after a heavy drink that cost more than the treatment for the fall would have.

There is a lack of cleverness involved here.

The last time I was in the US, I noted how many defibrillators were on the walls at the airports and in malls and other public places. Just there like that, to decrease the number of people who succumb to cardiac arrest.

How many do we have in our hospitals across the country or region? Ha! If we were to Be Serious about it, we would not be so laughable. Ask our ‘big people,’ ‘tycoons,’ ‘honorables,’ leaders, and simanyi bikyi these questions, please, and then feel even more ashamed that they are ‘above’ you.

Casual internet searches will get you a defibrillator for about UGX400,000 if you want. Ugandan socialites don’t post about any night out that costs less than twice that at the bar.

Do I even need to get to the ambulances Kwesiga mentioned? Nope.

Even if they exist, alongside the ones that our Kampala Capital City Authority and Ministry of Health made use of and publicised during the COVID-19 pandemic, you guys won’t use them.

What number will you call? If you do call them, where will they pass within our traffic and when it rains?

Cowboy never die, but for sure foolish Africans will continue to do so.

***

Thanks,–

Simon Kaheru

www.skaheru.com
@skaheru