Local GP and nurse first on scene at serious Strachur crash

A GP and practice nurse from Strachur were among the first on the scene of a three-vehicle crash north of St Catherines on Sunday.

Three vehicles left the road following a collision at around noon on the A815.

All three vehicles, with a total of five occupants, came to rest seriously damaged in trees and bushes, two of them on their sides.

Passers-by, worried about the risk of fire, smashed a window of one of the cars to allow the occupants to escape the vehicle.

The medical professionals from nearby Strachur Medical Practice were at the scene within five minutes.

Assistance was from the police, ambulance.

Police closed the road while the local Strachur volunteer firefighters attended quickly to deal with the danger of fire.

Ambulance paramedic crews attended from Arrochar and Dunoon and took three occupants with non-life-threatening injuries to hospital.

Dr Robbie Coull, the GP from Strachur Medical Practice, said: “This was a very serious crash and I am amazed that no-one was killed. My first concern on arriving was to protect the scene and to count requested fire and the casualties and assess how serious their injuries were.

“I sent our practice nurse forward to count casualties and triage the severity of their injuries, while I secured the scene and contacted Ambulance Control for assistance.

“I’d like to thank the responding crews – ambulance, police, and fire – who were all amazing and arrived within 20 minutes to assist us.

“The only issue we encountered was that we had problems getting put through to ambulance control via the 999 number, which could have caused a delay in getting the right resources to the scene.

“Although it did not affect the outcome this time, we will be following up with the Scottish Ambulance Service to ensure lessons are learned from this incident.”

Two people have been charged with traffic offences.

A police spokeswoman said: “Around 11.55am on Sunday March 16 officers were called to reports of a three-vehicle crash on the A815 near Upper Croitachonie.

“Emergency services attended and a man and two women were taken to hospital by ambulance.

“Two people were reported in connection with road traffic offences.”