S.W.A.M. members attend - First Bike on Scene - write up by Andrew Draper 1/03/2020
Several S.W.A.M. members attended the First Bike on Scene course yesterday in Neath Port Talbot and came away with a good idea of what to do in the event of an accident involving a motorcycle.
It was classroom based, and covered statistics, types of injury and how rapid intervention can help prevent death from, for example, asphyxiation from lying awkwardly or choking on vomit.
We learned how to ACT:
- Assess the scene,
- Communicate information quickly and accurately to emergency services,
- Treat any casualties until professional help arrives.
First rule is to look after yourself and not put yourself in danger, as that would just make matters worse. Sound advice was to keep things simple and keep calm. When giving a location to emergency services, being precise is vital.
We were told that all new information road signs have a GPS location on the rear. The app What3Words is also useful in identifying precise locations. It uses GPS to pinpoint your exact location and identifies it with three unique words.
We did practical exercises too, including CPR, “snatch rescue”, where a casualty has to be moved from immediate danger and safe helmet removal (and whether to remove). We also tackled a simulated accident.
Keeping a note of timings, how long CPR has been going on etc is vital information to the emergency services. If you record it on your phone, expect it to be taken off you as evidence. It’s therefore worth keeping a notebook and pen and recording information on paper.
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