WARNING: Emergency Services perform mock crash scenario to raise awareness for road safety

WARNING: The following images are graphic however they are not real. They are actors that have been made up to imitate victims of a road incident.

Students at Mossman High School got a taste of what it’s like to be involved in a serious road incident yesterday as emergency services performed a mock crash scenario.

The ‘incident’ was a huge operation with all the local emergency services crews involved, even the local rescue helicopter, Rescue 5:10.

Some students were made up with horrific make-up and effects to imitate wounded passengers and then placed in two wrecked cars (provided by Mossman Automotive Specialists) to imitate the crash.

A special mention must go to the student actors as some of the screams were truly blood-curdling.

As the demonstration wore on, emergency services crews worked together to free the passengers by cutting off doors and other parts of the vehicle bodies to get to the victims inside.

As this was happening, Mossman Fire and Rescue Lieutenant, Andrew Petrack, circled the scene with a microphone narrating for the students and explaining to them what was happening.

“Look right there. Your best friend is dying and needs CPR. Who’s prepared to give CPR to their dying best friend?” Lt. Petrack asked at one point.

One reluctant hand went up from the crowd, most of whom looked quite appalled by this point.

“We’ve just lost one, that’s a fatality,” Lt. Petrack said, as the ambulance providing CPR were substituted by the undertaker who covered the body and took it away.

In the meantime other emergency crews were still working furiously to free trapped passengers from the wrecked cars. It was quite a display from the 38 emergency services crew that were present.

After about 30 mins of intense life saving demonstrations, the rescue helicopter landed to fly the critical passengers to Cairns (they were only loaded aboard, not actually flown).

The entire demonstration took about an hour before the procession headed into the classroom for a return to normality with Lt. Petrack and others talking through some of the day’s topics for a further two hours.

“This is the eighth demonstration that we’ve done now and by far the best,” Lt. Petrack told Newsport.

“The first one was pretty low key but since then it’s grown slowly year on year to what you saw. Last year we were ready for a big display but then the chopper and the ambulance got called out to jobs, so it was nice to have the full complement of emergency crew today.

Lt. Petrack says his passion is road safety and the success of the demonstration is in its intensity.

“Yes there were some tears today as the emotion set in, but that’s the whole point. As these students get their license most don’t really have any idea what is involved in a high speed road incident. We want to explain to them from the outset the seriousness of their decisions. Our aim is to show them that there are consequences for their actions. If you speed, if you drink-drive, if you’re on your phone, you may have to live with something very difficult.”

Emergency crews involved were:

• Mossman Fire and Rescue
• Port Douglas Fire and Rescue
• Mowbray Rural Fire Brigade
• Mossman State Emergency Services
• Rescue 5:10 (helicopter)
• Queensland Ambulance Service Mossman
• Queensland Ambulance Service Port Douglas
• Mossman Police
• Road Crash Forensics
• Community Funerals (undertakers)