Royal Hobart Hospital upskills with Australian experts to treat children with major trauma

An innocent sneeze behind the wheel had dire flow-on effects for Samantha Hall and her son. But thanks to Hobart’s trauma team, they survived what could have been a double-fatality.

Samantha Hall and her son Oliver Butterworth, eight, survived a devastating head-on crash at Orielton, Tasmania. Picture: Marina Hacquin

Four months ago, an innocent sneeze behind the wheel had disastrous flow-on effects for Samantha Hall and her eight-year-old son.

Ms Hall ended up in the middle of the road at Orielton, and attempted to veer back in her lane – but another car was overtaking in the opposite direction.

What resulted was a head-on collision that nearly claimed the mother and son’s lives.

Ms Hall, terrified about her son’s safety and the safety of the other drivers on the road, and fearful her petrol car could combust, was trapped inside the car for more than an hour-and-a-half.

She was in excruciating pain with breaks all over her body as she waited for emergency services to remove the roof of her car.

Her son Oliver Butterworth, sitting in the back seat, was easier to access, but he too was heavily injured and traumatised – with a brain bleed, injuries to his aorta and bowel, and a number of broken bones.

He was rushed to theatre at the Royal Hobart Hospital for lifesaving surgery.

“He didn’t want to leave me, but I made him go. And thank goodness he did, because he wouldn’t have been here otherwise,” Ms Hall said.

Samantha Hall and her son Oliver Butterworth, pictured with members of the Royal Hobart Hospital trauma team, Rohan Lynham and Sarah Sproule. Picture: Marina Hacquin

She said the paramedics, firefighters, the police and hospital staff “saved our lives”.

Ms Hall and Oliver spoke out about their experiences on Friday as human faces of critical work the hospital has been focusing on in trauma management.

“The trauma team – I just can’t thank them enough,” she said.

Ms Hall has spent a long time recovering at hospital since the April 7 accident, but luckily Oliver was able to go home with his grandparents after just three weeks.

“He’s just a miracle,” Ms Hall said.

Hobart hospital staff dealing with pediatric trauma are currently upgrading their skills, thanks to a visit from specialists at the Royal Children’s Hospital trauma service in Melbourne – complete with simulation activities to replicate real-life events.

The children’s hospital, a major trauma centre in Australia, has spent the past 20 years travelling across the country to share its resources and knowledge with outlying hospitals.

The Royal Hobart Hospital currently treats about 20 children with major trauma each year, and 100 children with minor trauma – mostly from motor vehicle accidents, and falls, including from adventure biking and hiking.

Irene Moyer de Miguel, a trauma staff specialist at the Royal Hobart Hospital, said major pediatric trauma was an “exceedingly rare phenomenon”, making it difficult to gain a lot of experience.

“So one of the things we do is train,” she said.

“Days like this … it means when we do come to the unfortunate event of a pediatric major trauma we have those systems in place to be able to carry out the best care for patients.”

Royal Children’s Hospital trauma program manager Helen Jowett said over the past decade, Tasmania had done a “phenomenal” job in increasing its capacity to treat children suffering major trauma.

She said these days, only children suffering major burns or serious spinal injuries were still airlifted to Melbourne, with most Tasmanian children now treated at home.

“For the most part, you want to keep children, or any adult who is injured, at home with their community, with their supports around them.”

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