Roadside Incidents Flashcards
What are the specific agency responsibilities for roadside incidents?
Usually FENZ will take the lead for safety around crashed vehicles; Police will provide wider scene protection and traffic management.
Usually Ambulance will take the lead for medical assistance; Police will take the lead for protection against criminal acts.
Police will take the lead for securing the scene, exhibits, witnesses and the like.
For serious traffic crashes that do not involve fire or hazardous chemicals, Police is the lead agency.
Who is the incident controller for a crash?
The first Police officer to arrive at the scene acts as incident controller irrespective of their rank. A supervisor on arrival will assume the role of incident controller.
When will a FENZ member take role of incident controller?
Where any vehicle or object is on fire or there is a threat of hazardous chemicals.
What does TOC stand for?
Traffic Operations Centre.
What is initial action at roadside incidents?
- Ensure scene is SAFE, before any injured person is treated. This includes safe parking and initial traffic control.
- Make an appreciation of scene.
- SITREP to Comms, also advise the TOC if the incident is likely to affect traffic for a period of time, or if the vehicle(s) involved are damaged.
- Attends to victims
- Re-assess scene safety, including traffic control, boundaries, removing or mitigating hazards.
- Consider additional resources, staffing and equipment.
How should you park correctly at a roadside incident?
Use patrol emergency lights.
Park upwind of gasses, or in such a way to protect victims lying on the ground.
Park on the approach side.
Park out of the way of other emergency services, but close enough to use the radio. Police should park closest to approaching traffic to protect the wider scene.
Do not leave lights on high-beam. Use ATIS, lock doors, emergency lights on.
What information is supplied when making an appreciation of the scene?
if any of the occupants of the vehicle are trapped;
actual and potential hazards
best routes for emergency vehicles to approach the site
exact location, using a road junction or map reference (GPS if available).
emergency services on-scene and those still required.
type of incident, including details of the types and numbers of vehicles involved
number of casualties including age, sex, injury status (0-4) and whether they were the driver or passenger.
consider the use of an Officer Safety Alarm (OSA) device if exact location is not known or if no mobility coverage exists.
Where a person is status 1 or requires a helicopter extraction, consider planning early for a safe landing zone.
Australasian Triage Scale has six statuses, what are they?
Stat 0: dead.
Stat 1: immediately life threatening
Stat 2: Imminently life threatening, or time-critical
Stat 3: Potentially life threatening, or severe discomfort or distress
Stat 4: Potentially serious
Stat 5: Less urgent, administrative
Where should a police caution sign be placed?
100m before the incident.
Placed diagonally along lane.
What is the layout of attending a low-end vehicle crash with a lane blocked?
Within lane on approaching, caution sign first, then diagonal traffic cones, then diagonal patrol vehicle, followed by crashed vehicles.
A caution sign is placed within the opposite lane past the vehicle crash.
A sandwich of caution signs as bread, with patrol vehicle in middle, and cones and crash on other side of that.
Things to consider with victims of roadside incidents?
Establish the number, condition and exact location of any victims, and confirm with Comms that an ambulance has been called
If any victims are trapped inside vehicles, FENZ must be advised of the situation
When handling victims, wear protective clothing and gloves to protect yourself from contractible diseases
Do not move victims unless absolutely necessary, especially ones suspected of having neck or back injuries
Make every effort to quickly and accurately establish the identity of any victims by recording a physical description of each victim and a description of clothing, and seek help from relatives who may arrive at the scene and may be able to identity victims;
When removing victims, disturb the scene as little as possible. Before moving any item of evidence:
mark its original location
have this position photographed and documented
keep an accurate record of all items moved or photographed
give this information to the serious crash analyst/investigator at the earliest opportunity, using a job sheet.
If a victim’s clothing and possessions need to be seized for DNA and blood analysis, take all precautions to avoid cross-contamination; and
If the crash involved a cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian, at the mortuary retain the victim’s outer clothing and footwear for crash investigation analysis, unless the serious crash analyst/investigator tells you it is not necessary.
Considerations for towing a vehicle
A vehicle must not be driven away if it is unsafe and if necessary.
If the vehicle is not impounded, then usually the owner or driver decides where a damaged vehicle will be taken.
If the owner or driver has been taken to hospital, you must make the decision how and to where the vehicle will be removed if it requires safe-keeping.
Note that a NIA alert does not need to be entered via Comms when a vehicle is towed away from a crash scene.
What should you do if a vehicle has spilled an unknown substance?
Contact Comms immediately to inform FENZ.
Do not approach the substance, or allow others to.
Control the scene until FENZ arrives.
What must you treat all power line wires as?
Live, at all times, even if you suspect they are telephone lines.
What should you do if power poles have fallen down?
Request Comms contact the local power authority before you enter the scene.
Do not put staff at risk until power disconnection is confirmed.
