A professor at Griffith University in Queensland is appealing for truck drivers who have been first on the scene of road accidents to get in contact with him.
Dr Darren Wishart is carrying out research as part of the Queensland Trucking Association’s First on Scene Incident Response Training Program, with a view to better understanding what drivers are faced with in these difficult situations, and how they respond.
The study is funded in part by the Motor Accident Insurance Commission in Queensland, and involves a collaboration between the QTA, the Queensland police and St. John’s Ambulance.
Wishart told Big Rigs: “How this initially came about was, the QTA had said that a lot of truck drivers in regional Australia would be the first to come across the scene of a crash.
“In some instances, emergency response could take anything up to an hour.
“A person that’s first on scene in those situations may be exposed to things that not everyone would be able to cope with.”
The QTA, Queensland police and St. John’s Ambulance got together to design a training program to educate heavy vehicle drivers on what they should do if they are first on the scene of an accident.
A total of 129 truckies took part in the face-to-face course, which was run at seven different locations around Queensland.
“It’s about what to do when you arrive, making the scene safe, what to do in terms of first aid, and what to do after the event in terms of self-care,” Wishart explained.
“There was significant improvement between pre- and post-training in terms of knowledge and confidence around being first on the scene.”
The QTA is currently in the final stages of developing a set of resources to make the training available to more truckies, with “toolbox talks” that companies can share with their staff, as well as an online component.
Wishart is now hoping to speak to more drivers who have been first on the scene of accidents, to gain further insight and refine the training offered by the QTA.
“We are primarily interested in speaking to any of the 129 drivers who went through the training, to see if they have been first on the scene of an accident since then and if they found the training helpful.
“But of course it was only a pilot program – we hope to reach more people when the QTA rolls out the training in the new format.
“I am also interested in speaking to truck drivers who haven’t undergone the training but have been first on the scene of an accident.
“Any information provided could help improve the training program.”
Wishart said being the first on the scene of an accident is a stressful experience and he wants to make truck drivers aware that help is out there.
“Many of the truck drivers I spoke to could still recall the incident in a lot of detail, no matter how long ago it happened,” he said.
“It was still in their minds, even a decade later.
“Many truck drivers are not aware of the post trauma care that is available, and we hope to improve coping strategies, mechanisms and resources so it doesn’t get to the point where a driver has to quit the industry.”
If you would like to take part in the study, you can email Wishart on d.wishart@griffith.edu.au.
If you have been affected by an accident, TIACS offers free mental health counselling for truckies.