Trauma team's three quick Central Coast flights ...Fall man (Woy Woy); Dumped surfer(Avoca); Dirt biker (Kulnura)
NRMA CareFlight’s flying trauma team staged three quick flights to the Central Coast at the request of ambulance officers today.
A Woy Woy man suffered head injuries when he fell and struck his head while mowing his lawn at Miami Avenue.
The NRMA CareFlight trauma team landed in a nearby oval shortly after the alert at 11.20 am.
The 26-year-old man was taken under the care of the NRMA CareFlight doctor, in a road ambulance, to Gosford Hospital in a stable condition to undergo further assessment.
As the team took off from Gosford Hospital ambulance officers called them to fly to an injured Sydney surfer at Avoca Beach who was dumped onto a sandbar.
The NRMA CareFlight doctor said the 51-year-old man, from Northmead in Sydney’s west, collapsed as he tried to walk up the beach, suffering severe neck pain.
With support from police, the helicopter landed behind the surf club at 12.45 pm to allow the trauma team to work with ambulance officers and stabilise the man who was treated for possible spinal injuries.
The man was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital where he was in a stable condition on arrival at 1.30 pm.
A Kulnura man suffered internal and possible spinal injuries when two dirt bikes collided head-on at the man’s property off George Downes Drive at about 4 pm.
The other rider escaped injury and placed his injured friend in a utility and drove him up to the road to meet ambulance officers who also called NRMA CareFlight.
After stabilisation the NRMA CareFlight doctor decided to fly the 21-year-old man to Royal North Shore Hospital where he was in a stable condition on arrival at 5.15 pm
NRMA CareFlight cautions against moving a patient who may have suffered spinal injuries – unless it is to move the patient away from immediate danger. The patient’s neck and back should be stabilised to prevent any further movement while a “000” phone call to the Ambulance Service will bring expert assistance to the patient’s location.
Quick response to the Central Coast was what the NSW Government promised in December when it approved an extension of NRMA CareFlight’s trauma trial to the region.
Backed by a $11.2 million grant from NRMA Insurance, a formal agreement with NSW Ambulance Service and approval from the State Government, the flying team is able to reach the Central Coast in a average 20-minute flight.
The trial, to demonstrate the benefit to patient recovery from having a specialist doctor support local ambulance officers in treating badly injured patients, including those with severe head injury, is keeping NRMA CareFlight in the air rushing to patients in not only the Central Coast but also to Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains and Southern Highlands from the charity’s base in the Westmead Hospitals’ campus.
Community fund-raising is allowing CareFlight to extend its flying squad response both geographically and soon, aided by new Night Vision Goggle technology, also to routine night landings.
Donors, or people wishing to nominate CareFlight as a recipient of their fundraising, are asked to contact the charity’s donation line on 1800 655 876 or visit the web site www.careflight.org
NRMA CareFlight: your service for life
ENDS: For further information please call NRMA CareFlight spokesman Ian Badham on 0418 245 748.
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