The Queensland Ambulance Service has thanked a crew of Telstra riggers following a single-vehicle crash in an isolated area 90km north of Cloncurry late last month.
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The six-person crew happened upon the vehicle soon after it flipped multiple times on the Burke and Wills Developmental Road and landed on an embankment.
With the sole occupant sustaining serious injuries, the riggers played an integral role in assisting the patient and shut down the road for the arrival of the rescue helicopter. LifeFlight airlifted the patient to Mount Isa Hospital in a serious but stable condition, before being flown to Townsville Hospital for further treatment.
Telstra Area General Manager Rachel Cliffe said the riggers were building a new mobile base station nearby when the accident occurred.
“Our field staff are trained in first aid so they were able to assess the patient at the scene and relay information to the Queensland Ambulance Service,” Ms Cliffe said.
“Our technicians work throughout regional and remote Australia and we are thankful our team was able to assist the injured woman and the QAS in this instance.”
QAS Townsville Operations Centre Supervisor David Beil said the outcome may have been vastly different if not for the assistance.
“They were able to relay to us an accurate GPS position of the incident and regular patient updates, which was intrumental in getting the rescue helicopter swiftly to the scene,” Mr Beil said.
“One of the technicians mentioned that ‘Telstra encourages us to assist’, however I believe the workers involvement acted above and beyond this statement.
“Due to the isolated nature of the incident we heavily relied on their assistance, and none of our requests were too much to ask for. They truly have gone a long way to saving this patient’s life.”
Mr Beil recommended downloading the Emergency+ phone app to save critical time in a similiar emergency.
“This app uses your smartphone’s GPS function to pinpoint your location in an emergency. If you’re not sure where you are, you can read the GPS coordinates to the Triple Zero Emergency Medical Dispatcher,” he said.
“Patients finding themselves in an emergency may not be as lucky in having help nearby, so this feature is significant given the long and remote stretches of road in the region.”