Crash exercise tests rescue services
“It’s far different from book learning,” said trainee doctor Chloe Palmer after attending a car accident simulation rescue organised by Rural Fire Chief Trevor Beale on Tuesday Night, March 22.
She said learning occurred in a fragmented form as she attended the accident.
“It was a very valuable experience,” she said.
This annual accident rescue simulation is organised to give young trainee doctors experience as well as allowing the rescue services — fire and ambulance — practice working together.
The scenario was a near headon collision causing one car to veer off left into a bank and the other to lodge in a drain so tight doors could not be opened.
First on the scene were the trainee doctors — Chloe Palmer, Hope Yuan and Mark OwenCooper — who tried to assess the four victims, Barbara Maher, Majken Sparks, Mike Matthews, Talitha Vandenberg. Access was difficult.
Ambulance and fire services arrived to extricate the victims shortly after and soon swung into action with the doctors assisting. Dr Owen-Cooper said he loved the whole exercise but was frustrated because he could not do more.
“I would have liked to be one of them,” he said pointing to the firefighters.
It was all over in an hour, with the Dannevirke Fire Service and St John personnel taking 30 minutes to remove the victims.
“This was a particularly challenging rescue, because the drain was so narrow we had