Rural communities pull together in tough times. The story below illustrates this.
At approximately 8.38 am on 18th July at Lake Pukaki, near Twizel, two buses were travelling in convoy, as they transported a group of Chinese tourists to their next destination. Both buses rolled on black ice and tipped over. The fog that morning was heavy, resulting in low visibility. This section of the road is notorious for its occasionally dangerous road conditions. Many accidents have occurred with drivers either not aware of the treacherous conditions or not paying close attention to the conditions. There were both adults and children on the buses. The group had come over to attend the World Choir Games in Auckland
As a rural community, everyone knew their roles and the response kicked into gear like a well-oiled machine.
Hato Hone -St John responded with three helicopters, nine road vehicles, one PRIME (Primary Response in Medical Emergency) responder and a rapid response vehicle. Firefighters arrived from Twizel (as well as some volunteers who had heard the call), and units from Lake Tekapo, Omarama and Otematata also attended There was a strong police presence. Twizel Medical Centre treated 23 of the passengers, with 10 being transferred to hospital, while 13 were discharged to a civil defence emergency centre which had been set up at the local events centre by Mackenzie District Council This emergency centre provided accommodation and food for the crash victims. The local marae, Te Whare Mahana was also put on alert but was not needed.
Sport Twizel provided vans to transport low-level casualties to and from the medical centre to the event centre
A teacher and students from Twizel Area School organized an afternoon of games and sports for the children.
What is the preparation for these events? Nina Boyes (Managing Director of High Country Health Limited who operate Twizel Medical Centre) identified that 5 of their core staff have had PRIME training and part of this training focuses on managing multiple patient casualties. The medical centre has the second highest PRIME response rate in the country so staff are quite experienced at managing these situations. In addition, the medical centre undertakes whole staff scenario-based training once per year that involves life-threatening emergencies with multiple patients. Future scenario-based training will be aimed at larger-scale events.
The above story illustrates how small rural communities can pull together and achieve a seamless service
