Mental health concerns for paramedics at back-to-back fatal crashes as QLD road toll soars

Senior Queensland Ambulance staff say they are deeply concerned for the mental state of paramedics who attended the two crashes on the Bruce Highway that left three people dead on Tuesday night as the state’s alarming death toll keep rising.

Senior ambos say they are deeply concerned for the Townsville paramedics who attended back-to-back fatal crashes on Tuesday night, as the state’s road toll soars towards the worst in a decade.

Three people died in two separate incidents just 2km apart on the Bruce Highway, near Townsville on Tuesday, and on Wednesday Queensland Ambulance Service Townsville Senior Operations Supervisor Wayne Paxton said it was an extremely difficult night for those attending the horrific scenes.

“Unfortunately, we had some officers present at both incidents, so they’ve got two vivid memories that they now have to manage and deal with the horrific scenes they’ve been confronted with,” Mr Paxton said.

“I know it impacts QAS staff quite significantly, where you’ve got them attending quite an acute job with fatalities involved,” he said.

Photograph from the scenes of the Crystal Creek (Mutarnee) accidents on the Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham on Tuesday Wednesday. Photograph: Cameron Bates

QAS’s internal support service, Priority One, is a support network for all staff, volunteers and immediate family members.

Director of Priority One, Todd Wehr said while the high-quality training of QAS staff is a protective factor, the trauma of attending horrific incidents can take its toll on first responders.

“While our paramedics are highly skilled and go through rigorous training and have excellent support services in place, you can’t just unsee some of the things they are called out to” Mr Wehr said.

“We ensure crews that attend fatal incidents are contacted by trained peer-support volunteers within 24-48hrs for a check-up, if at that stage they’re not doing okay we refer them to external trauma related specialists” he said.

Holly Stewart was one of two people killed in a crash north of Townsville.

QAS paramedics and other first responders are being confronted with a worryingly high number of fatal crashes, as the 2021 Queensland road toll has risen to 129.

At this time last year the road toll was 110, and advocates are concerned this year will tragically surpass historical numbers.

Queensland Police Service confirmed the 2020 road toll was 276.

Fire crews on scene at a fatal crash north of Townsville on Tuesday night where a man was killed. His car was unrecognisable.

Mr Wehr said what is most important for QAS staff is the support from the crews at their stations, and a focus of the program is to break down the stigma around trauma after distressing incidents.

Originally published as Mental health concerns for paramedics at back-to-back fatal crashes as QLD road toll soars