AFTER a horror 2019 on local roads which saw nine people die in fatal collisions, local emergency service workers hoped this year would be different.

However, those hopes took another hit last week when three people lost their lives in three separate accidents, including the tragic passing of a two-year-old girl at Shea-Oak Log on Wednesday.

Shortly after the accident, which saw the driver – believed to be the toddler’s grandmother – arrested for causing death by dangerous driving, our first responders were quickly on the scene, tasked with saving the lives of those involved and co-ordinating the cleanup of a horror crash scene.

For these first responders though, the incident does not end once the crash scene is cleared up.

Three emergency service workers have shared their experience with trauma in their own fields and made a joint plea: stay safe on our roads.

“Secondary and tertiary victims”

Barossa Local Service Area officer in charge Chief Inspector Shane Addison has seen his fair share of tragic road accidents.

The Gawler region’s top cop has been vocal in spreading SA police’s road safety message to local drivers, particularly with two 110km/h highways – The Sturt Highway and Port Wakefield Road – inside his jurisdiction.

Police are often derided for setting up speed cameras and drink and drug driving detection operations, in an attempt to catch risky drivers before they cause an accident.

But Chief Inspector Shane Addison said the psychological harm fatal road accidents can cause families, communities and his fellow police officers should be enough of a deterrent for “stupid” driving behaviour.

“We’re still having serious road accidents, we’re still having lives lost and lives destroyed due to serious injuries as a result of poor driver behaviour,” he said.

“Those little incremental things people do – failing to indicate, travelling too close and creeping over the speed limit – increase the risk for you, your passengers and other road users.”

For police officers, the trauma of a serious collision fails to dissipate after the crash scene is cleared.

They are tasked with following up an investigation, reliving the event when interviewing witnesses or in a subsequent criminal trial and making the ‘door knock’ to notify immediate family of a victim’s passing.

“There are always those people who are directly impacted, and there’s all the follow up where a police officer somewhere has to go knock on a door and advise a relative and deal with them in those circumstances,” Chief Inspector Addison said.

“That’s beyond the exposure to the trauma at the scene. That certainly takes its toll and those members certainly feel that.

“They become the secondary and tertiary victims of serious road collisions and lives lost on our roads. It certainly does affect them and when children are involved, even more so.”

“Nobody’s been there and seen it all”

When a serious road accident takes place and lives depend on urgent medical assistance, paramedics are tasked with ensuring the best chance of survival.

The South Australian Ambulance Service’s Chris Howie runs support programs for SA’s paramedics in his role as executive operations support manager.

After 22 years in the profession, he has seen numerous traumatic accidents, as well as supported his peers following tragic incidents.

“Nobody’s been there and seen it all, but just by the nature of the work our staff do get confronted with some pretty horrific things,” Mr Howie said.

“It’s a constant source of frustration for emergency service personnel to have to front up to these things and deal with the trauma that’s in front of them.

“The reality is, everybody who is involved in these things is a father, a mother, a brother or a sister. Nobody would willingly put their family members through such trauma as what occurs after a significant accident.”

Despite the trauma paramedics deal with, Mr Howie said he is proud of the way local emergency service workers keep focused on saving lives throughout the state.

“Emergency service workers are human beings like everybody else. We will still arrive at a scene and we’ll have that moment where we take in what is happening around us.

“There is always that moment of ‘oh my goodness’ but then it clicks into the fact that we need to get on with our job. Everybody is relying on us to do what we need to do and time after time we get in and do it.”

Community trauma for volunteers

Many members of the public cannot imagine working in a field where they could be confronted with death and trauma – let alone volunteer in one.

Country Fire Service (CFS) volunteers do just that, with one of their primary roles gaining access to vehicles to free victims after serious accidents and to clean up the aftermath.

They are often called in the middle of their work day or in the middle of the night to attend fatal accidents, doing so spurred on by a sense of community duty.

Dalkeith CFS captain Clint Marsh said his fellow volunteers’ close ties to the community often mean the victims can be known to the people trying to save their life.

“We can sometimes have a greater emotional attachment, being that the service is quite a central, close tie to local communities,” he said.

“Sometimes, those who could be involved in an accident is someone they could know quite well.”

Mr Marsh added volunteers shared a special bond and do whatever they can to support their mates following a traumatic accident.

“Every time you attend a serious accident, I don’t think you ever forget what happened at the incident,” he said. “I think there’s always a memory left for emergency services.

“We hold an extensive amount of debriefs to make sure any emotions an emergency service officer can carry from the incident can be expressed in a group, together.”