Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Mark Spain from the NTFRS speaks about trauma associated for all involved as the NT's road toll continues to rise his year

Transcript

Mark Spain from the NTFRS speaks about trauma associated for all involved as the NT's road toll continues to rise his year · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: But we do know that over the weekend we learned
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: of two fatal crashes in Darwin and also in the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Dundee area, one a motorcycle and colliding with the car,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the other a single vehicle rollover, both of which involved
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: young territory men. We know that it's an incredibly difficult
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: situation and it's a difficult situation for all of those
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  Speaker 1: first responders. But joining me in the studio to talk
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  Speaker 1: a little bit more about this and some of the
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: issues that we do see for our firefighters is Mark Spain,
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  Speaker 1: our chief fire officer with the Northern Territory Fire and
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  Speaker 1: Rescue Service. Good morning to your Spainy.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie, Good morning listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Thanks very much for your time this morning. Now, we
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  Speaker 1: know it was a terrible weekend when you talk about
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  Speaker 1: those crashes on our roads and those fatalities, and I
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  Speaker 1: think quite often when we talk about those terrible incidents,
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  Speaker 1: obviously we firstly talk about the victims and their families,
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  Speaker 1: but then we often say, you know, it must be
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  Speaker 1: tough for the police and the emergency services going out there,
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  Speaker 1: But we don't often hear about the fact that the
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  Speaker 1: fieries are out there. But we know that you guys
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  Speaker 1: play an incredibly pivotal role.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, Katie. I've got twenty seven locations across
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  Speaker 2: the Northern Territory staffed by career fire fighters, staffed by
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  Speaker 2: volunteer fire fighters, and their responsibilities up and down the
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  Speaker 2: highway to keep people safe. And of course I'd like
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  Speaker 2: to just say that the territory is a huge playground
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  Speaker 2: and it offers wonderful lifestyles for all to enjoy. You know,
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  Speaker 2: we've seen the increase in ATVs or terrain vehicles. The
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  Speaker 2: lifestyle just offers so much fishing, lots of terranny distance
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  Speaker 2: and it's unfortunately that last style leads to some tragic consequences.
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  Speaker 1: And as I say, we know over the weekend those
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  Speaker 1: two terrible, terribly tragic incidents. I mean, how traumatic are
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  Speaker 1: those scenes for our first responders? You know when you
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  Speaker 1: go out.
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  Speaker 2: There, absolutely you know we've been doing this for a
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  Speaker 2: long time. Try to get the message through. It's a
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  Speaker 2: number of things. What happens is you go to do
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  Speaker 2: the response, you deal with the incident, and then on
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  Speaker 2: occasions that you'll have an investigation. So therefore the members
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  Speaker 2: will need to re attend that incident to do the extraction.
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  Speaker 2: But this really starts right from the call taker. The
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  Speaker 2: call taker receives the call and they're on the line
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  Speaker 2: most of the time and they're listening to the desperate pleas.
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  Speaker 2: And when you talk about two any distance, we talk
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  Speaker 2: about the golden how from a time of an incident
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  Speaker 2: you try to get them on to the hospital where
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  Speaker 2: you give them the best opportunity in the territory, it's
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  Speaker 2: the golden ours. So that's the big critical thing. There's
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  Speaker 2: not a lot out there, there's a lot of open space,
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  Speaker 2: and that should really be planned. Whether all these crashes,
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  Speaker 2: they're all avoidable at the end of the day, So
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  Speaker 2: it's just the planning. Don't think you're ten foot tall
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  Speaker 2: and bulletproof, really enjoy the lifestyle what the territory offers,
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  Speaker 2: but plan it. That's all we can do because you
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  Speaker 2: know it does affect all our first responders.
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  Speaker 1: Can it be sometimes so as well when you talk
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  Speaker 1: about that tyranny of distance and trying to get you know,
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  Speaker 1: your firefighters out there to put a fire out or
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  Speaker 1: to extract someone from a vehicle, it must be it
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  Speaker 1: must be incredibly difficult.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, when you're in the city environment, you can
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  Speaker 2: usually be on scene within five to eight minutes, rendering
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  Speaker 2: assistance straight away. But when you're talking about tyranny distance, look,
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  Speaker 2: I've I did my time with Jabbuary, so I've had
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  Speaker 2: a few horrendous calls there some of my firefighters. When
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  Speaker 2: you're sitting on the raid for an hour, knowing that
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  Speaker 2: you're going to a critical incident, you've got time to
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  Speaker 2: do the job when you get there. That's a long
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  Speaker 2: time for someone to be trapped in a vehicle and
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  Speaker 2: or dealing with what you've confronted with. And then you've
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  Speaker 2: got obviously the our trip back, You've got to clean
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  Speaker 2: your vehicle, and as ICA, you have to look after
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  Speaker 2: your firefighters. We have very good mechanisms in the police
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  Speaker 2: fire emergency services, but at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 2: I keep reiterating these are all avoidable.
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  Speaker 1: And we know it's not just the incidents on the
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  Speaker 1: roads as well that we see. There's also been a
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  Speaker 1: really traumatic situation over the last couple of weeks with that,
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  Speaker 1: with house fires as well. There is you know, there's
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  Speaker 1: a lot that you're going out to at the moment,
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  Speaker 1: and I guess all the time.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely the footprint of Dawn and Palmstead is spreading. The
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  Speaker 2: population is growing, people want to live out there, so
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  Speaker 2: the response times will stand out. So what really sits
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  Speaker 2: with our fire fighters is could we have got there earlier?
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  Speaker 2: How can we get there? What could we have done better?
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  Speaker 2: But at the end of the day, they do a
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  Speaker 2: fantastic job, but they do wear their heart and the
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  Speaker 2: sleeve and they try to do the best they can
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  Speaker 2: for the community.
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  Speaker 1: Spainy. I would imagine that there is support offereds offered
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  Speaker 1: obviously to all of those who attend crashes. But you know,
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  Speaker 1: I think I know this even from when I worked
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  Speaker 1: as a media person with the Northern Territory Police about
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  Speaker 1: fifteen years ago, that the really difficult thing in the
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  Speaker 1: territory as well is that everybody knows each other and
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  Speaker 1: it can be really tough if you're called out to
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  Speaker 1: a crash or called out to an incident, given the
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  Speaker 1: fact that the Northern Territory is so close knit.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, like referring back to the Jabbaru one
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  Speaker 2: a couple of years ago that affected the whole community.
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  Speaker 2: They're young footballers, they're young men of the community. Recently,
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  Speaker 2: the last three fatalities of the house fire and the
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  Speaker 2: two road crashes they're all known. Everyone is well known, interconnected,
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  Speaker 2: so it doesn't take long for the word to get out.
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  Speaker 2: And then that's what we call the ripple effect. The
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  Speaker 2: families left behind. They're asking the question, why, how can
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  Speaker 2: we have done something better? I say, there's no easy
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  Speaker 2: solution for this other than really reconsider how you're going
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  Speaker 2: to travel around the territory and enjoy this great territory
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  Speaker 2: of ours.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, is that your message for territorians today that
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  Speaker 1: realistically we have to just be you know, we've got
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  Speaker 1: to be so careful when we're out on the road.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, I hate getting that phone call. I carry my
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  Speaker 2: phone twenty four to seven. I hate getting that phone
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  Speaker 2: call to say that my cruise. Whether they be a volunteer,
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  Speaker 2: Adelaide River or timber Creek or Elliott, they're all responding
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  Speaker 2: to a road crash. Whether it be a road trainer,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: whether it be the Great Nomads, you get that phone call.
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  Speaker 2: My concern is they turn out at night, they drive
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  Speaker 2: on those dangerous roads to render assistance. They're there, they're
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  Speaker 2: exposed to the critical incident and then they've got to
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  Speaker 2: return back and then we'll offer our support as much
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  Speaker 2: as we can. But it's still a difficult environment to work.
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  Speaker 1: In, mate, What is it like for you know, for
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  Speaker 1: our fieries and I know it would be the same
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  Speaker 1: for our police and all of those call takers, But
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  Speaker 1: what is it like for you when you take that
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  Speaker 1: call and you know that you're sending your crew out
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  Speaker 1: to a fatality or to a terrible incident.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the thing is we've got a very small workforce.
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  Speaker 2: I've got two hundred career fire fighters. I've got two
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  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty volunteer fire fighters, and you get to
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  Speaker 2: know majority of them personally. So obviously been around since
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  Speaker 2: the ARK, So I know these troops and I hurt
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  Speaker 2: just as much with them, and I know what they
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  Speaker 2: go through. You know, we've all experienced it. Can do
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  Speaker 2: is just keep providing support. The support has really come
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  Speaker 2: a long ways from when I joined the support. Nowadays
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  Speaker 2: they're right onto it. We the watch commanders really look
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  Speaker 2: after their troops. They set out their preyate forms, our
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  Speaker 2: essential services people. They get right onto it and just
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  Speaker 2: monitor it. But it's a cumulative effect, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: just not stopping. Nothing is stopping here. So we just
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  Speaker 2: really need to refocus on our road safety campaigns and mates,
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  Speaker 2: have to look after mates at the end of the day.
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  Speaker 2: If there's a risk there of incident, avoid it because
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  Speaker 2: you don't want to take out another family who are
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  Speaker 2: innestantly driving along as well. So there's a whole lot
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  Speaker 2: of factors that you must really consider well.
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  Speaker 1: Mark Spain, the Chief Fire Officer for the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: Fire and Rescue Service. I always appreciate your time. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you very much for having a chat with me this morning.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: Thanks Katy more, thank you