My name is Nigel Corner, I am a Station Officer with Kerry Fire and Rescue Service, based in Tralee. Over the last 24 years, I have attended many serious and fatal road traffic accidents. In that period the number of fire incidents has remained roughly the same each year, but the number of traffic accidents has increased nearly four-fold. As well as the increase in number, the severity of the accidents, has increased, and the number of fatal and serious injury incidents has reached a high level |
Road Traffic Accident
Demonstration Tralee The Square |
Due to the severity and frequency of this type of tragic incident, it is becoming more difficult for fire fighters to deal with the stress encountered following the call out. Personally, in the past I would have dealt with the stress issue much quicker, but maybe after all the years of seeing and dealing with this , it takes longer to get it out of your system. It is something that all fire fighters are aware of, and stress is something we all monitor, and the fire service has support services in place, if required.
As a father, if I get called out during the night, if everyone is at home when I leave, at least you feel a little calmer leaving, I am sure it is the nightmare of all fire fighters to be called to an accident involving a member of their own family, and it has happened.As a fire fighter, when you arrive at an accident, your training ills kicks in, the job takes over, all you see is someone hurt and you must extricate them as soon as possible. You tend to become automatic, you do not see a man or woman, or how old they might be, you only see another human being that needs your help. It is after the job is done and the person has been removed to the care of the ambulance crews, that you reflect on the injured person and how badly hurt they were. |
| It’s at this stage that various emotions can materialize, at times , I have been angry at the total waste and stupidity of it all, you would feel like getting hold of someone and telling them’ are you ever going to learn’. Not to long a go, we went through a period in Tralee, were every traffic accident we attended, was a young person in a sporty type car. We wouldn’t dream of allowing our children to carry a gun, but we seem quite happy to let them loose with a killing machine like a car, but not to teach them how to use it safely. I am very concerned about a person’s dignity, when they are involved in an accident, and over the years many things have happened to compound this for me. I remember an accident where a young lady was very seriously injured and during the extrication, she was drifting in and out of consciousness, at one stage she said to ‘I must look a mess’ I told her that she was still the prettiest one here. Following a very long period of treatment, I met her again, and her only recollection of the accident was her feeling, of what people would think about her in that condition. |
When we deal with injured people, you must always talk them through what is going on, even if they do not respond to you, you can never be certain how much they can understand, people will often ask about other persons in the vehicle, we never tell a lie, but sometimes avoid saying how serious someone maybe, as this news may have an effect on their own health, and inside a crashed vehicle is not the time or place to be the bearer of bad news.
There are times when you can not avoid feeling the pain and sorrow of the family, and you can relate to how you would feel if in their shoes. I remember attending an accident in West Kerry in which a young person had been killed, whilst waiting for the deceased to be removed, a car pulled up and the mother of the young person got out of the car, and she screamed’ oh no, oh my god no’. As this person moved towards the vehicle, I rushed over to usher her away from the scene, so as to avoid further upset. This had a big effect on me, the pain this parent was going through and if I was that parent, I am not sure that another person would have been able to prevent me getting to the vehicle. |
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In recent times, measures have been taken to try and stop the carnage on our roads, including a very good ‘shock type’ TV advertising campaign. Unfortunately it is not enough. There are somethings that need to be done quickly. We have to stop provisional license holders sitting behind the wheel of a car, unless they are accompanied by a responsible and qualified driver. Those who pass the driving test should be restricted to a certain speed limit, for twelve months, so as to gain experience in the safe handling of the vehicle. Defensive driving courses should be introduced, road traffic law needs to be implemented and the recourses provided to enforce it. The driving by foreign nationals using their own licenses needs to be looked at, as the standard of driving and rules of the road varies greatly from country to country.
I’m all for driving education at schools where people could be taught the safe way to drive and the myths of driving. The biggest myth being that I am perfectly safe, my car has all the latest safety features, crumple zones, impact protection, seat belt tensioners all the airbags. I know from experience that all the airbags in the world won’t save you if you hit a tree at speed, the car might take the wallop, but you won’t.
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