Emergency service volunteers from the Southern Highlands received critical trauma training at Mittagong RFS on May 19.
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CareFlight provided specialist trauma training to first responders as part of their MediSim program.
Health services in rural and regional Australia can be stretched in emergencies and often the first people to arrive at the scene of a serious incident are local rescue volunteers or remote workers.
CareFlight Manager of Education and Training, Colin Brown, said those first five or ten minutes can mean the difference between life and death for the patient.
"This is where the CareFlight MediSim program comes in," he said
"We send experienced paramedics and nurses to rural and remote areas, delivering world class trauma training to local first responders.
"It's a hands-on, simulation based program designed to give your first responders a lot more confidence, skills and knowledge in managing a trauma patient - for example, keeping a patient alive before professional ambulance or aeromedical arrives.
"These first responders do an incredible job for their community and they could be at the scene of an accident before professional medical help arrives.
"In rural and remote areas, first responders can be on their own for a period of time so they need to be able to manage that situation appropriately."
Launched in 2011, CareFlight's MediSim has trained more than 5000 emergency service volunteers free of charge and has supported the emergency service networks in the Southern Highlands since the program began.
CareFlight MediSim is delivered at no cost to participants thanks to generous donations from the Southern Highlands community.
Lifelike mannequins and a unique car crash rescue simulator aid in the recreation of a high pressure environment, ensuring the training is realistic.
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