Accident Scene Management Australia

Who's looking out for you in the event of a motorcycle crash? A new Australian course is attempting to answer that question in a practical manner

Recently, what was meant to be a leisurely ride over Victoria’s Mt Dandenong and through the rolling hills that lie behind turned out to more dramatic than originally planned. I was riding sweep for the day on my little 250 – the pack had spread out through while winding from Woori Yallock down to Gembrook – when the tail group came across a bike, a red Daelim, laying on its side, the rider sprawled over the gravel and into the ditch beside the road.

My heart started beating and my mind started racing. What’s happened? How did it happen? Is he hurt? What if we need an ambulance – how long will it take them to get here?

Thankfully I had completed Accident Scene Management Australia’s basic and intermediate courses which had taught me what to do at the scene of an accident. The courses provide participants with skills beyond a normal first-aid course, and are tailored specifically for motorcycle accidents. However the skills picked up can be applied to most trauma situations.

The program is derived from and associated with the Bystander Assistance Programs run in the USA by Accident Scene Management Inc. The organisation was set up by avid Harley rider Vicki Sanfelipo, a qualified nurse who was asked by a friend if she knew what to do in the event of an accident.

So far over 17,000 participants have participated in the course and there are real world examples where participants have saved lives since completing the course. An example is the self-proclaimed “One Legged Blonde,” Cat Hammes – also a qualified nurse – who was knocked off her cruiser by a van coming out of a store. She recounts that if it weren’t for a bystander who knew what to do, she would have been a goner. She now gets around on a battery powered prosthetic lower leg and foot advocating the benefits of the course – and there’s no arguing with her!

The Australian courses are taught by people such as paramedics and senior first-aiders who enjoy motorcycling as much as you and I. Every motorcyclist can recount countless “close calls” but all it might take is one knock to end up in hospital fighting for your life.

Now back to my opening salvo. What if we had required an ambulance to attend the Mt Dandenong crash? It certainly wouldn’t arrive in five minutes like it would in the Melbourne CBD – it would be more like 30-45!

Imagine if it were you lying on the roadside requiring medical attention for that long because your friends didn’t know what to do? What if your untrained friends did something that made your situation worse, or injured themselves from the hazards at a roadside accident!

The program aims to address various scenarios that might arise and gives you practical experience of not only how to manage an injury, but also how to manage an accident scene. It is interactive, challenging and taught in simple language: almost anyone can do it!

It teaches you how to take control of the people around you and get them working as a team to maximise the injured person’s chance of survival.

“Motorcyclists are usually the first on the scene of a motorcycle accident, because of where we ride and who we ride with,” said Vicki. In theory it sounds right, but astounding when it’s true!

The Daelim accident occurred between two blind corners. We had our scene assessed and controlled within a minute. The rider came out with a bruised ego aside from a few bruises that would develop over the next day -- and the Daelim lived to see another dae! Within 15 minutes we were back on our way and lucky that the situation wasn’t much worse.

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Accident Scene Management Australia

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