Those words echoed in the ears of St John Ambulance first responders as they arrived on the scene of an alleged major vehicle incident involving pedestrians.
These unusual scenes were not the result of a horrific incident, but rather this scene was one of five challenging scenarios used to test St John Ambulance teams across Sydney over the past weekend.
The Granville Invitational 2019 competitions held at Macquarie University on Saturday, July 11, were designed as the ultimate test to put St John Ambulance teams through their paces.
Confronted with five scenarios covering trauma, medical, resuscitation, mental health and mass casualty, teams from across Sydney battled each other to be crowned the ultimate winner!
Whether it was a vehicle ramming incident injuring six people, a pushbike accident leaving two people in a critical condition or a young lady suffering a mental health condition, St John Ambulance first responders found each scenario tested them in different ways especially when combined with the pace of the competition.
“We are privileged in St John to have access to training that gives us the skills to manage such incidents. Today we got to put that training to good use,” Kevin Rasquinha said.
Competitions have a long history in St John Ambulance, but what makes the Granville Invitational different?
“The Granville Invitational provides a level of realism that aims to immerses competitors fully into the scene,” Granville Combined Divisional Superintendent Isabelle Moutia said.
“The event uses professional makeup artists and special effects experts. Simulations like the Granville Invitational are an important educational tool, they help our volunteers to practice their skills and help us as an organisation to also test our systems and processes.”
As with all competitions there can only be one winner.
The local Granville team of Kevin Rasquinha and Hannes Firgau, took out the Resuscitation and Mass Casualty titles and the overall Trophy by a small margin of points with some stiff competition from other Sydney based units.
Want to get involved? St John Ambulance Granville is a volunteer organisation that meets weekly and attends events across the Cumberland Council area. If you want to know more, contact Isabelle on 0403 168 870 or email Isabelle.moutia@stjohngranville.org.
