Truckies often find themselves as the first to arrive at the scene of an accident and with the alarming rate of road accidents growing in Australia, it’s important to have first-aid knowledge to potentially save lives.
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In these critical moments that are often stressful and unpredictable, truckies find themselves having to step up to provide critical assistance before emergency services reach the location, with many occurring in regional and remote areas.
Would you know what to do if you were the first on the scene?
Here are the essential steps and first-aid skills every truck driver needs to handle critical moments:
- Prioritise safety
Stay calm: Take a deep breath to steady yourself and reduce anxiety before you act, panic only increases confusion.
Assess your safety: Check for potential dangers before stepping out of your vehicle or entering an area. Look for traffic, fire, leaking fuel or fallen powerlines. If it’s too risky to move, stay inside your vehicle until help arrives.
Wear High-Visibility clothing: If you own a reflective vest or any other high-visibility clothing in your car, put it on to ensure others can see you, especially in low light or at night.
Signal your location: Use hazard lights, road flares or cones to make yourself visible to other drivers, helping prevent further accidents.
- Assess the scene
Evaluate victims: Count the number of vehicles involved and check for injured individuals to understand the scope of the emergency and how many people may need assistance.
- Call Emergency Services
Every minute counts in saving lives and reducing injuries, unless the injury or illness appears to be minimal, you or a bystander should call for an ambulance following these simple steps.
Dial Emergency Number: In Australia, call 000; in other locations, call the local emergency number immediately.
Provide key information: Share important details including your exact location, the number of vehicles, people involved, visible injuries and potential hazards, like emanating smoke, helping responders prepare for the situation before they arrive.
Stay on the line: Do not hang up until the operator instructs you to do so as they may have vital instructions for you to follow.
- Check Victims
Focus on assessing the most critical and life-threatening injuries, using bystanders wherever possible. Prioritise care based on the severity of injuries, ensuring the most urgent receive attention first.
Grab your first aid kit: If you have a first-aid kit and gloves in your vehicle, grab them.
Tip: St John Ambulance and NatRoad Australia have collaborated on this Truckie First Aid kit designed to meet the first aid needs of truck drivers on the road.
Or other resources:
https://www.trafalgar.com.au/products/heavy-vehicle-first-aid-kit
https://firstaidkitsaustralia.com.au/first-aid-kits/transport
Approach cautiously: Your safety must remain a priority, always make sure it’s safe before approaching anyone who may be hurt.
Observe victim: Look for any of the following:
- Bruising
- bleeding
- wounds
- swelling
- deformity
Assess responsiveness: Introduce yourself and start a conversation with the victim. Who are they? How do they feel? Were they alone?
Use the ‘AVPU’ code to help with your observations of their health.
- Alert: are they alert and responsive to you?
- Voice: Do they respond to your voice?
- Painful: If they cannot response to verbal cues, do they respond to a pain stimulus, such as squeezing fingers?
- Unresponsive: they do not respond to any eye, voice or motor response to voice or pain.
Perform First Aid:
If necessary, perform first aid; you can use the ABC Principe to guide you.
- Airway: Ensuring the injured person’s airway is clear.
- Breathing: Checking for signs of breathing
- Circulation: Assessing for severe bleeding and applying pressure.
- If the victim is unresponsive and not breathing, start CPR. Give 30 chest compressions followed by 2 rescue breaths.
- For severe bleeding, use a clean cloth or bandage to apply direct pressure to the wound until professional help arrives.
Position victims safely: If a person is unconscious but breathing, place them in the recovery position to keep their airway clear and prevent choking. Do not attempt to move victims if they are in a difficult position, as this may injure them further.
Communicate with the injured: Offer verbal reassurance to victims to stabilise emotions, continually update them at the arrival of emergency services and inform them of any first aid actions you may take.
- Follow up
Wait at the scene until emergency responders get there. You may need to guide them or give a summary of what happened.
- Check in
The stress and trauma associated with these “first responder” roles can create mental health issues among truck drivers, so getting help for your own wellbeing is a priority.
You can get mental health support from operations that specialise in the wellbeing of truck drivers like Healthy Heads in Trucks & Sheds and offer workshops and counselling services. For regional areas, you can find support from Rural Outreach Counselling.
Emergencies can no doubt be daunting for anyone but being prepared and knowing what to do can make a significant difference, with these simple guidelines, you can be ready to handle an emergency well and prioritise safety until professional help takes over.
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