The Emerald docs, nurses tackling trauma on deadly Capricorn Highway

A veteran rural doctor reveals what life is like for nurses and doctors working in the heart of Central Queensland, after a recent accident claimed the lives of two children and two men.

Four people died in a head-on crash on the Capricorn Highway. Picture: 7 News

Sunday, July 20, began like any other for the doctors and nurses in the mining town of Emerald. Some had already clocked on for work, others were at home, perhaps with a cuppa and good book, a deliciously greasy plate of bacon and eggs, or kicking a ball in the backyard with the kids.

But when four lives were cruelly snatched from the world and two others were seemingly hanging in the balance after a Toyota HiLux and Holden Commodore crashed between nearby Comet and Blackwater, the medical team took pause. Then they mobilised, swiftly, calmly and expertly.

Shaun Ranger holds daughter Saphora, and children Baylee and Chandler, with fiance Renee Carla.

The brutal head-on collision between the cars tragically took the lives of dedicated dad Shaun Ranger and his beloved ‘sweet’ son Baylee, 7, and ‘bubbly’ daughter Chandler, 6, along with his friend and colleague Corey Bietzel, 32, all from nearby Blackwater, west of Rockhampton.

The two men in the Toyota HiLux - Jonathan Green, 32, from the Gold Coast, and a 28-year-old - had survived.

Former president of Rural Doctors Association of Australia and rural generalist obstetrician Dr Ewen McPhee posted an emotional social media post praising the medical team’s incredible response to an accident that happened at the same time and offering his condolences to those who lost loved ones.

Corey Bietzel was in the same Holden Commodore as Shaun Ranger and his children Baylee, 7, and Chandler, 6 when it was involved in a fatal head-on accident on the Capricorn Highway at Comet on Sunday, July 20.

But he explained he could not reveal whether it was about the terrible tragedy on the Capricorn Highway, explaining he had to protect patient confidentiality.

In it, he describes his role within the team as “observer, coach, listener and conductor... but the orchestra needed little prompting, bar a question here or a reflection there”.

The long-time Emerald doctor and specialist said Emerald Hospital has become something of a “trauma centre” as an increasing number of people are killed or injured on the Capricorn Highway.

Jonathan Green from the Gold Coast, has been identified as one of two men who were in a Toyota HiLux that was involved in a head-on collision on the Capricorn Hwy, Sunday, July 20.

“Unfortunately, there are many, many crashes on the Capricorn Highway,” Dr McPhee said.

“We receive at least one to two motor vehicle accidents every other day.”

For many crash victims, Emerald Hospital is their first point of call.

“It manages trauma and then works to appropriately get the people to where they need to be,” he said.

Dr McPhee urged people not to underestimate rural medical professionals, especially in Emerald.

Long-time Emerald doctor and specialist Dr Ewen McPhee. Supplied

“We have some fantastic clinicians in Emerald,” he said.

“When everybody is fully staffed, well rested and ready to go, absolutely we have the facilities to be able to look after people acutely.

“However we always rely on Retrieval Services Queensland and the work that is done by Royal Flying Doctor Service and Care Flight.

“We have had, during severe accidents, assets on the ground ready to take the patients to definitive care - be that emergency surgery or emergency orthopaedics or intensive care unit admission.”

Four people died in a head-on crash on the Capricorn Highway. Picture: 7 News

Dr McPhee said they “get a lot of pushback from larger centres and from bigger facilities thinking that we don’t know what we are doing and we are in the bush because we can’t cut it in the city”.

He said there were numerous reasons why there was a large number of accidents on the Capricorn Highway.

“They are narrow roads, we do have speed limits which are probably even higher than they should be... a lot of road transport is happening on small narrow roads,” he said.

Dr McPhee said investment in rural roads was essential to preventing future tragedies.

“The money you could spend can save so many lives and increase the efficiency and safety of road transport immensely,” he said.

The site of the tragic crash on Capricorn Hwy between Comet and Blackwater on Sunday, July 20.

Dr McPhee has been training local doctors and nurses in Emerald for many years and described them as a highly trained and professional group.

He believes location training is vital to maintain a good health system.

“To really get good people to stay, you have to train them where they are going to work and live,” Dr McPhee said.

He praised the work of local Emerald hospital health workers, saying doctors and nurses in regional and rural areas live in the communities with the people who are severely affected by tragedies and can also be affected by those same tragedies themselves.

“They know people and spend time with people outside of their work,” Dr McPhee said.

“And this can be really hard on doctors and nurses and other health professionals.”

Dr Ewen McPhee tells people not to underestimate rural doctors and nurses.

He said places like Emerald are better equipped to deal with the mental health of medical personnel as there are enough people to understand and share their burden.

“Where you’ve got smaller communities, such as Blackwater, where you’re relying on one or two doctors and a few nurses to try and manage the whole of that community, it can be really really challenging,” Dr McPhee said.

“Understanding the context of how they work, how they deliver care and some of the challenges that they are facing can be really problematic.

“Emerald has got a critical mass of clinicians that can wrap around those who are struggling.”

Originally published as The Emerald docs, nurses tackling trauma on deadly Capricorn Highway