A woman in her 50s has suffered a serious arm injury after her campervan rolled on the Pacific Highway on the NSW Mid North Coast … but it could have been a lot worse.
The ABC reports that a group of off-duty special forces soldiers happened to be among the first on the scene after Monday’s accident.
NSW Ambulance Inspector, Jason Saper, said that the extremely fast response of bystanders before paramedics arrived had ‘undoubtedly’ saved the woman’s life.
“Remarkably there were some off duty special armed forces who were on the scene,” Inspector Saper told the ABC. “They actually applied a tourniquet to a limb that was bleeding quite heavily.”
A helicopter attended the crash scene on the Pacific Highway. PIC: Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service
He said the servicemen were carrying a professional first aid kit and managed to squeeze through a gap at the scene and assist, despite the injured woman initially being inaccessible.
The ABC reports that fire rescue crews cut the roof off the vehicle in order to extricate the woman before she was treated at the scene and then flown to Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition.
The accident has prompted a warning to holiday-makers who might be travelling in campervans, caravans or other van models for the first time.
Inspector Saper said that, at this time of the year, there was plenty of traffic on the road so there was always an increased chance of incidents like this, and he urged holidaymakers to make sure they take regular breaks.
NSW Association of Caravan Clubs secretary Anne Carragher told the ABC that drivers had to remember not to overload their vehicles.
“It’s very important to know the weight, the masses and the pay loads,” Ms Carragher said. “If your van is overloaded or loaded incorrectly, meaning too much weight at either end … you don’t have the same control if something happens.”
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