Training bid ‘fobbed off’
TRAINING requests at Dreamworld were “fobbed off” and minor repairs delayed because of “budgetary issues”, the inquest into the Thunder River Rapids Ride disaster has been told.
Dreamworld registered nurse and safety officer Rebecca Ramsey told the inquest yesterday she had asked for regular training for staff, which would have been before opening hours.
Barrister Matthew Hickey, for victim Cindy Low’s family, asked: “Was there some resistance from management getting staff in for training?” Ms Ramsey replied: “Yes.” She also told the inquest no safety officers were rostered on at weekends.
The inquest is examining what happened about 2pm on October 25, 2016, when a pump stopped working on the Thunder River Rapids Ride, causing water levels to drop and a raft to become stuck on a conveyor belt.
That raft was hit by another carrying Luke Dorsett, his sister Kate Goodchild, her daughter Ebony, 12, Roozbeh Araghi, Cindy Low and her son, Kieran, 10. The four adults were killed. The children escaped uninjured.
Ms Ramsey said she had conversations with park operations manager Troy Margetts and attractions manager Andrew Fyfe about getting staff in for training. She said it was a “wait and see conversation”.
Mr Hickey asked: “Did you feel like you were being fobbed off?”
Ms Ramsey said: “Sometimes.” She said she spoke to her supervisor who told her to keep asking.
But safety first aid officer Ben Hicks told the inquest yesterday he knew of about 50 different training scenario sessions that had been conducted at Dreamworld “recently”.
Ms Ramsey said there was one way the emergency response could have been improved.
“I feel that if the alarm had have been sounded by the operator then we may have had a more wider response, then more people would have been there sooner,” she said.
Ms Ramsey was one of the first of the medical team on the scene.
“When I arrived on the scene someone handed me a small child,” she said.
“I took that child out of the ride area.”
She told the inquest that she returned after she found someone to care for the child.
She said she asked supervisor Sarah Cotter how many people were on the raft and was told she did not know.
Ms Ramsey said senior ride operator Peter Nemeth, who was on the controls at the time, was standing next to Ms Cotter but did not offer how many people were on the ride. The inquest continues today.