ROAD ACCIDENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23192, 11 November 1938, Page 11

ROAD ACCIDENTS

WAIKATO DISTRICT LONG AMBULANCE TRIPS INTERMEDIATE STATION PLAN MERCER SITE SUGGESTED Following an accident on the Great South Koad, about two miles south of Mercer, on Tuesday, when three people were injured, the suggestion has been made that tho time has arrived when an ambulance should be stationed at Mercer or some other convenient point approximately half-way between Auckland and Hamilton.

Tho three people involved in the accident mentioned -were given first-aid by a police constable who by chance was in tho vicinity, and were later attended on the roadside b.y a doctor from Pukekohe, who had been summoned by a passing motorist. A St. John ambulance was called from Auckland, 45 miles distant, and arrived more than an hour after tho accident. The patients, one of whom had a fractured leg, were then brought to the Auckland Hospital. A Doctor's Opinion An Auckland surgeon who has taken an interest in the work of the St. John Ambulance Association said yesterday that, considering the distance between tho hospitals and ambulance headquarters at Auckland and Hamilton, it was very desirable that an intermediate ambulanco station should be established. It seemed to him that the district now carried a population warranting such a service, which would relieve the two urban ambulanco systems of a number of long trips. It had to bo remembered, added the doctor, that in some accident cases, as, for example, those in which a blood transfusion was required, lialf-an-hour's delay in reaching hospital might mean the difference between life and death. In addition, there would be great advantage in having an ambulance driver fully trained in first aid and ready to drivo off to a call at short notice.

Doctors in tho country had rounds which took them far from their consulting rooms, and it was therefore a matter of ch&nco -whether one might be available to attend an accident. An ambulance located within a reasonable distance would stand a good chance of reaching the scene first.

Present System Upheld The secretary-manager of the St. John Ambulanco Association, Mr. S. E. Langstone, when asked to comment on the suggestion, said he did not think that an intermediate station was warranted by the number of calls received from the area, or that tho advantages gained would justify the cost. In this particular case, according to his information, tho accident occurred at 3.45 p.m., and first aid was rendered to the injured people almost immediately b£ Constable F. T. Wakelin, of Mercer, who asked a passing motorist to telephone for a doctor and an ambulance. The call was received in Auckland at 4.5 p.m., and the ambulance was on the scene in 55 minutes. Dr. A. T. Bcgg, of Pukekohe, had arrived some time earlier. Thus the patients were in good hands throughout, and it coidd not be said that there had been any undue delay.

Value ol First Aid In any case, Mr. Langstone continued, it was questionable whether injured people in general were best served by being hurried to hospital immediately after an accident. It was more important that first aid should bo efficiently rendered on the spot and that medical help should be obtained as soon as possible. If the patient could be made comfortable on the roadside or in a car, there might bo some gain in allowing him to remain there until he had had an opportunity of recovering from the shock that was usually present. He would then be better able to stand the journey in the ambulance. The lesson of this and other accidents was that everybody should have a knowledge of first aid, and particularly that motorists should learn it.