MACKAY CHOPPER AIRLIFTS FIRST RESPONDER AFTER TWO CRASHES
April 4, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MACKAY CHOPPER AIRLIFTS FIRST RESPONDER AFTER TWO CRASHES
RACQ CQ Rescue has airlifted a first responder to Mackay Base Hospital after two consecutive accidents on the Bowen Developmental Road yesterday afternoon.
The Mackay-based rescue helicopter was already en route to Moranbah to transfer a patient to hospital when it was re-tasked by Queensland Health to a serious single vehicle accident involving five occupants near Belyando Crossing about 2.30pm.
Two rescue helicopters, including the Rescue 512 crew from the fully government-funded service in Townsville, were tasked to the accident scene due to the number of casualties involved.
When RACQ CQ Rescue landed in a grassy clearing adjacent to the accident site on Bowen Developmental Road about 3pm with a doctor and Critical Care Paramedic on board, they were notified that an emergency services’ vehicle, which had also been on the way to attend the crash, had lost control and rolled just a couple of hundred metres from the first accident.
The vehicle rolled a number of times and ended up on its roof in a culvert. The single occupant, a first responder, sustained minor injuries.
Four patients from the first accident involving a white hatch back also sustained only minor injuries and were transported by road to Mackay Base Hospital. One patient from the first accident was airlifted by the Townsville helicopter to hospital for further investigation and scans.
RACQ CQ Rescue departed the scene at 5pm with the injured first responder from the second accident on board and in a stable condition and after refueling in Moranbah, arrived at Mackay Airport at 6.50pm.
It is believed a second emergency response vehicle also collided with a kangaroo on the way to the initial accident scene.
[ENDS]
RACQ CQ Rescue and another rescue helicopter were deployed to an accident scene on the Bowen Developmental Road, near Belyando Crossing, yesterday. An emergency responder was also injured in a second accident just a few hundred metres from the first crash scene.
Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182