Toowoomba’s RACQ LifeFlight Rescue crew has given Darling Downs district Queensland Police Service (QPS) officers hands-on chopper training, to ultimately help people in need, in a more efficient way.
“We’ve had an increase in primary responses, particularly to motor vehicle accidents, this year,” RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Aircrew Checking and Training Officer, Shaun Gillott, said.
“Having the police on scene is an important role, for LifeFlight.
“It allows us to operate more safely and efficiently when we’re doing our tasks,” he said.
This morning, at the Toowoomba LifeFlight Clive Berghofer Centre, QPS officers were shown how to correctly assist with a stretcher winch, from the ground.
“We inserted our RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and Flight Paramedic onto the ground and they assembled a stretcher, with the assistance of QPS, then again – with the assistance of QPS – we recovered that stretcher into the aircraft,” Mr Gillott said.
Since the beginning of the year, Toowoomba LifeFlight crews have been called to more than 40 primary scenes, where QPS has also been in attendance. These missions include motor vehicle accidents, searches and some winch operations.
Toowoomba Police Station Acting Sgt Isaiah Reich, said the Darling Downs district is lucky to have highly skilled emergency services looking after community members.
“The better we can work together, with LifeFlight, the more streamlined and efficient we can make that primary care experience, for any injured people on the ground,” he said.
The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue crew also briefed the QPS officers on how to best prepare a makeshift helipad, at a primary scene, ahead of the chopper’s arrival.
“I think we share the same sentiment as most of the community: when we know LifeFlight is on the way, we all let out that same sigh of relief that I’m sure the injured parties involved in that rescue experience,” Acting Sgt Reich said.
“In more rural and remote locations, it can be challenging for ground crews to get to the scene, so to be able to extract injured patients by air, saves so much more time.”
The workshop is a clear demonstration of emergency services working together, to provide Queenslanders with the best health and safety outcomes.
“Having people around, who are familiar with helicopter operations and how we conduct winch rescues, makes it safer and more efficient for us and that’s what we’re trying to achieve,” Mr Gillott said.
