Late on Friday 15th April I flew to Sydney with a colleague both to observe and act as assessors at a Sydney first aid course for ski patrollers. As the equivalent Melbourne course has been held recently this was a useful moderation exercise, and one that we hope to continue nationally over the next couple of months by visiting all courses.
As is often the case, it was a slow descent into Sydney after a bit of circling and waiting. We then caught a taxi to our accommodation at Avoca Lodge in nearby Randwick (close to the course venue). We were a bit surprised to find that this establishment was more like a youth hostel than a motel, with a tiny bedroom but a modern bathroom. We were also right across the road from one of Sydney’s major hospitals, so had helicopters taking off and landing at close proximity as well as the noise of heavy rain falling for most of the night. Having worked in emergency departments myself, I’m always conscious that the sound of a helicopter means that some poor trauma casualty or a critically unwell person is arriving at the hospital, and of course I feel sorry for the individual and their family. As there were no dining facilities, we went out to forage for food nearby, and found a pub and a number of lively restaurants, and settled on one of the Indian establishments, enjoying some Chicken Tikka Masala and Mango Chicken. A ‘Bollywood’ movie was playing in the background on a large plasma screen!
After a bit of a restless night we went out for breakfast to a local café, and unfortunately the available newspapers did not include the shining light of local journalism, the Melbourne “Age”. While we were there torrential tropical-style rain began and did not really ease off by the time came to walk to the nearby venue (perhaps a couple of km away). As a result, we were fairly well soaked by the time we arrived. Nothing like squelchy wet shoes and socks! Our welcome ranged through warm to conciliatory and lastly the cooler end of the traditional Melbourne-Sydney rivalry (which has survived unabated over two hundred and thirty years since European settlement!). One candidate was overhead to refer to us as “the Victorians”!
During the course of the day we observed some lectures (identifying issues for quality control purposes) and then assisted with some competency assessments during the afternoon and early evening. It was whilst we were doing some ‘unconscious casualty’ practical assessments in order to free up recertifying instructors to assist with assessing other candidates tomorrow that we found our ‘hidden dragon’, and it was certainly not short on firepower, leaving us slightly singed in the process. There was vigorous debate about the two main issues to arise, relating to a disparity between ‘on the hill’ practices at one of Australia’s largest ski resorts, and the official ski patrol teachings. These issues were “why should we repeat the ‘A’ part of ‘ABC’ if we can see that the casualty is still breathing?” and the use of a scoop stretcher as a ‘full body splint’ for an unconscious casualty rather than individual splinting of the affected body parts (in the assessment scenario a fractured wrist and a lower-leg fracture). We did not win any friends by insisting on accepted practices (as we expect from candidates Australia-wide, especially under an RTO structure) rather than these local variations.
The assessments were not concluded until around 19:30 and after one of our colleagues kindly gave us a lift back to the Lodge we went out to a local bistro for a meal and the opportunity to mull over the events of the day. There is clearly a lot of work to be done in terms of achieving national consistency and achieving reform of practices which do not adhere to the ‘gold standard’. I was reminded of the famous quote penned by J.K. Rowling for Albus Dumbledore in one of the Harry Potter books: "We have to choose between what is right, and what is easy."
Sunday was a busy day, and we worked on one of the unconscious casualty assessment stations for the whole day, and unfortunately no breaks were provided for. We finally finished about 14:30, and after missing breakfast and lunch were both hungry and tired. Our colleague again gave us a lift to the airport, and fortunately my companion had access to the Qantas Club so we were able to refuel and rehydrate whilst waiting for our flight back to Melbourne. It was a worthwhile exercise which served to reinforce the enormity of the challenge ahead and it will be interesting to see what the other courses are like over the coming months. Certainly we were pleasantly surprised by the relative quality of the Melbourne course and candidates.
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