Tassie road crash fatals takes ‘significant toll’ on emergency service volunteers

Volunteer and family man Adam Akam is one of the first people to arrive and respond to the horrific incidents that send shockwaves of irreversible pain throughout the community. He talks about some of the worst parts of his important job >>

As the Mercury continues our road safety campaign ‘Drive to Survive’, we talk to some of the hardworking volunteers who leave their families to respond to the many crashes, searches and incidents across Tasmania — and the effect it has on them.

ADAM Akam is one of the first people to arrive and respond to the horrific incidents that send shockwaves of irreversible pain throughout the community.

He is one of hundreds of State Emergency Service volunteers who dedicate their spare time to responding to incidents across Tasmania that carry lifelong trauma.

It has taken a significant toll on him mentally.

“It’s very traumatic to respond to road crash rescues,” he said.

“Last year was a terrible year. We had a couple of fatalities happen my way directly.”

The Southern Region General Response Unit training officer and Derwent Valley Acting Unit manager has been called out to fatal crashes since joining SES more than nine years ago.

“Some of the members that I have responded with and after many years of responding to those sort of incidents, it does take a significant toll on them,” he said.

“I know for me and probably a lot of my colleagues as well, when I go home after a job the first port of call is going to be my wife.

“I’m going to sort of de-stress in that regard and sort of offload a lot on to her.”

SES Volunteer, Southern Region General Response Unit Training Officer/ Derwent Valley Acting Unit Manager Adam Akam. Picture: Chris Kidd

The 29-year-old said that an event that he responded to despite not being a road crash, weighed heavy on his mind.

“One that particularly sticks with me quite a lot was the land search that we did for the missing girl down in Stormlea.

“A young child was involved and I was able to relate to that because I’ve got little children at home.

“Everybody has their own triggers, everybody has their own life experiences and lived experiences and what affects one person may not trigger somebody else.

“The nature of the instances we respond to, the reactions that people have and the bearing reactions that they will have to those incidents are completely valid. They’re completely normal.”

SES Volunteer, Southern Region General Response Unit Training Officer/ Derwent Valley Acting Unit Manager Adam Akam. Picture: Chris Kidd

Mr Akam like many SES volunteers leaves their loved ones in order to help the community.

“I’m leaving my family at the drop of a hat,” he said. “We might be in the middle of dinner or doing something with my kids and the pager goes off and we rush out the door.

“It’s not just the incident itself which might be traumatic but the toll of us being dragged away from our loved ones, our work, whatever it might be, to respond to these jobs.”

SES offers initiatives for their staff and volunteers after responding to a traumatic event.

“We’ve got a program called Critical Incident Stress Management, which is automatically activated for us after traumatic incidents, in particular fatalities in traumatic jobs where there’s a significant amount of trauma involved,” Mr Akam said.

Mr Akam urges motorists to obey the road rules.

“If you’re tired, take a break, make sure you wear a seatbelt, don’t speed and drive while under the influence of any alcohol or drugs,” he said.

“Because road crashes certainly do take a significant toll on individuals.”

Originally published as Tassie road crash fatals takes ‘significant toll’ on emergency service volunteers