Various paramedic teams responded to the multi-injury crash Friday requiring a triage protocol. (File photo)

By Sarah Wallace

emergency response

Paramedics reflect on collaborative effort after multiple injuries in highway crash

Jul 6, 2019 | 11:37 AM

The crash involving two passenger vehicles on Highway 240 north of Shellbrook required a group effort under some challenging circumstances, according to Parkland Ambulance Services.

Prince Albert crews were joined at the scene late Friday morning by Spiritwood and Big River colleagues.

A total of fourteen people needed to be assessed and treated after the two vans crashed.

The circumstances surrounding how the collision happened are still under investigation.

However, Lyle Karasiuk with Parkland Ambulance said dealing with that many patients is not common.

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“Fourteen people is by no means a regular occurrence for us, nor would be a situation that would involve a larger vehicle, such as a bus,” said Lyle Karasiuk, director of public affairs for Parkland.

Despite the rarity of the event Karasiuk said paramedics do deal with multiple accidents and multiple patients on a regular basis.

“For [Parkland] it’s not uncommon to respond to a vehicle incident where you [have] five or six people. That is, I wouldn’t say an everyday occurrence, but fairly common because you have two or three people in one [vehicle] and two or three people in another,” he added.

At each and every accident with multiple people involved, Karasiuk said paramedics will set up something called a ‘triage’.

“Triage simply is [to] sort out and determine who is the most severely injured, ensure that we account for everyone’s that’s there and in fact make sure that all of the people that are there are accounted for. Also, that we have the appropriate resources that we need to deal with those types of situations,” Karasiuk explained.

He said in any type of crash you can see significant injuries of multiple people or a single person or you can see no injuries at all.

“It depends on the severity of the crash, whether people were buckled up, whether they’re not, there’s many factors that go into determining the severity,” Karasiuk said.

Sometimes situations like this present some challenges for paramedics such as the limited transport capability, so they rely on help from surrounding communities.

“As a team they functioned exceptionally well. That’s what we’re trained to do, first on the scene, take control and start to sort out, determine what you need for other resources and bring those resources to them,” Karasiuk said.

Out of the 14 people, Karasiuk said six were transported to Shellbrook Hospital with minor injuries.

All six were treated and later released.

sarah.wallace@jpbg.ca