General News
28 August, 2024
Firefighter pays tribute to lifesaving flight crews
David McCrindle has been reunited with the aeromedical staff who saved his life.
One year on from a brutal motorbike accident on a remote stretch of highway, veteran Mount Isa firefighter David McCrindle has been reunited with aeromedical staff who delivered the life saving treatment.
Mr McCrindle is usually the one helping others on their worst day, with more than 30 years under his belt as a firefighter attending house fires, car accidents and chemical spills across the state.
But when he crashed his Harley Davidson about an hour west of Camooweal – or, in the “middle of nowhere,” as he puts it – he needed to trust that others would come to his aid.
Mr McCrindle said he was travelling along the road with a group of mates when he noticed riders coming up behind him in his mirrors.
He said he drifted too close to the edge of the road and losing control, he veered off the side, with his helmet ripping off on impact.
“I managed to keep the bike up for about 100 metres until I hit a termite mound in the long grass and then I came off the bike and landed in the bush,” Mr McCrindle said.
“Friends who were riding with me, saw the cloud of dust and came back to help me.”
There was no phone service, but fortunately a truck driver with a satellite phone stopped to let them call Triple Zero.
The main highway to the Northern Territory was shut down so the LifeFlight chopper could land on the road near Mr McCrindle.
Four emergency teams rushed to his aid, including a Mount Isa LifeFlight chopper carrying Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) critical care flight paramedic Jake Graham, which landed at the same time as two QAS vehicles arrived on scene.
Paramedic Jennie Matthews and Camooweal Health clinic nurse Kristy Benjamin were inside the first ambulance and paramedics Jayne Herrick and Alecia Myles from Mount Isa station were inside the second.
Not long after the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) jet with Doctor Shima Ghedia and flight nurse Zak Tilbury touched down.
The QAS paramedic onboard the LifeFlight chopper and the local QAS paramedics worked together to stabilise Mr McCrindle before he was driven 20km up the road to the Avon Downs air strip to meet the RFDS team, who then took over his care.
“This was a great example of working closely with the LifeFlight team,” Dr Ghedia said.
“Given the severity of the accident, we prepared for a broad range of medical conditions he could have potentially suffered.
“We examined the patient closely, continued to stabilise him and we gave him pain relief so we could safety transfer him to Mount Isa Hospital for further treatment.”
Mr McCrindle suffered a concussion, five broken ribs, a punctured lung, a hip hematoma and a brain injury that kept him off work for four months.
“The pain was excruciating, and I was finding it difficult to breathe,” he said.
“It’s very difficult when you have an accident in such a remote area. It was a whole coordinated logistical effort by all involved.
Meeting with Mr Graham and Dr Ghedia twelve months after the incident, Mr McCrindle thanked the crew for the rapid response that gave vital medical care in his hour of need.
“Three emergency services organisations worked together to help me. As soon as I knew the LifeFlight helicopter boys were with me, I could relax and let them do their job. That took a lot of stress away for me.”