A Hills paramedic has expressed frustration at road users pushing the limits and making poor decisions as SA’s road toll rises.
Nick Kaye has been a paramedic for more than a decade and is a clinical team leader for the Hills region with the SA Ambulance Service.
He said it was frustrating that some road users were still not listening to road safety experts’ advice and being reckless on the roads.
“It’s really frustrating having to arrive on scene knowing it’s preventable if people paid more attention, if people put their phones away, if people obeyed the speed limits,” he said.
“We’re there for the aftermath, to pick up the pieces when a lot of the time it is avoidable.”
As a paramedic and first responder, Mr Kaye said his job was to stay focused and in control at a road accident and “add value” to the horrible situations people found themselves in. Whether the driver is to blame becomes irrelevant and he said he did his best to treat his patients without judgment.
However, Mr Kaye said the emotional elements of a road crash, especially those involving children, could impact him personally and have a prolonged effect on his mental health.
“Obviously, being a dad of two kids, it does hit home a bit harder if you have to go attend to a child who has been in a traumatic incident or has found themselves in bad situations,” he said.
But it’s not always the children that have a lasting impact on first responders, and Mr Kaye said he remembered responding to an incident involving an adult driving alone.
“Arriving on scene (where) the single occupant of the vehicle ... was trapped inside the vehicle,” he said.
Mr Kaye said sometimes people were trapped in vehicles but not pinned, allowing emergency crews to safely and quickly remove them.
However, this was not the case at this call and Mr Kaye said his ability to administer care was restricted.
“You could assess reasonably quickly that they were trapped, but ... breathing,” he said.
“Circulation was a problem as well, so they were obviously losing blood somewhere; I just didn’t know where.
“It’s frustrating knowing that someone’s critically unwell and you can’t get them out of a vehicle so you can provide treatment and care.”
Mr Kaye said road accidents impacted many people beyond the victim.
“It’s not the patient themselves that is the only person affected, it goes a lot further, spreads a lot wider than an individual impact,” he said.
“I urge people to take care on our roads, no matter the distance, the time of day, or no matter what you think their priority is at any given time.”
As of Tuesday, August 29, SA’s Road Toll was 76, compared with 71 for all of last year.