Blue Mountains training for Special Casualty Access Team (SCAT)
Special Casualty Access Team (SCAT) paramedics facilitate the provision of care
for people in remote and/or hazardous environments. Recently a group of
SCAT paramedics travelled to the Blue Mountains to maintain and build on
their clinical canyon response skills.
The day was run as close to what would be expected of a real mission, meeting at Katoomba Ambulance Station prior to receiving a ‘call’ via mobile phone from the ‘operations centre’ stating that two climbers were injured in a remote section of the Blue Mountains.
The team was then required to allocate roles and locate the patients by map prior to driving as close as possible via 4WD. At this point the team had to navigate to the patients’ location before being confronted with a 100 metre multi-pitch abseil with full medical equipment, including a stretcher.
Once with the patients, SCAT paramedics provided reports to the ‘operations centre’ and began triaging and treating their two patients who were simulating realistic medical conditions – all under the watchful eye of an emergency doctor!
At this point the rest of the team began working on the evacuation of the patients that would not only be safe, but facilitate ongoing care. This involved a multi-stage haul using every trick in the SCAT bag to build a system that allowed the patients to be hauled in ‘3 dimensions’, vertically and horizontally at the same time.
The timing for this training session aimed to be realistic, with the initial ‘call’ at 0900 hours and the evacuation completed by approximately 1500 hours.
The training once again highlighted the challenges involved in undertaking
such a role, as well as the benefits of using local knowledge eg
canyon guides. Special thanks to SCAT Instructor Steve Lobley for
organising and
running the day, as well as Keith Williams, Manager Rescue/SCAT
for his assistance with training resources.
Photograph: SCAT paramedics go through the 'ropes'.
Ambulance is committed to assisting the community create safer and healthier environments and outcomes by making prevention everyone’s businesses. A number of innovative community education programs have been implemented to assist identify life threatening conditions, understand what to do in an emergency and the importance of adopting illness prevention strategies.