One of the more critical missions our crew completed over the Christmas break was in the Stanage Bay area when Queensland Health tasked Rescue300 to the scene of a serious moto vehicle accident.
Prior to the arrival of the RACQ CapRescue helicopter, a Queensland Ambulance Officer was in attendance and attempted to provide initial treatment to the patient who was still entrapped in the vehicle. The driver, and sole occupant, was pinned between the steering wheel and seat of the car, which had come to rest on its roof.
Emergency crews faced difficult conditions extracting the patient due to the proximity of the vehicle to the riverbed and his position within the car. It took Queensland Fire and Rescue approximately 2 hours to free the man who was suffering serious lower limb injuries from the vehicle.
The man in his 20s, a French National had been holidaying in Australia for the last year. He was eventually removed from the vehicle and loaded onto the helicopter for onward flight to Rockhampton Hospital. He remained in a serious but stable condition for the duration of the flight.
This was the second trip to the Stanage Bay area within 12 hours following a task the previous evening to retrieve a woman who has sustained facial injuries. She too was flown to Rockhampton Base Hospital in a stable condition.