“Within two hours we managed to clear the site and also the emergency department at Mater Dei from the injured ones,” Dr Jonathan Joslin, one of the Emergency Consultants at Mater Dei hospital, told The Malta Independent.
Dr Joslin was speaking to this portal after 26 people were injured, five of them critical, when a Porsche driven at high speed clipped the grass and spun out of control during the Pappaqli ghall-Istrina event on Sunday.
Dr Joslin, who has a number of years of experience in pre-hospital emergency treatment, said there was an effective team effort between the paramedics on site, who gave first assistance to the injured, and the medical staff at Mater Dei hospital.
The emergency doctor said that he was not on site when the accident happened but he was called in.
“When I arrived we immediately assessed the situation, which was determined as being a serious one and Mater Dei declared a Major Incident Alert. We called a number of ambulances to the site and provided medical equipment which helped us give first treatment to the injured.”
Within the first half an hour we had assessed and sent to Mater Dei hospital for further treatment those whose condition was more serious, Dr Joslin said. Out of the five critically injured persons only one was airlifted, the rest were taken by ambulance.
Dr Joslin said that while they were giving treatment at Hal Farrug, the site where the accident happened, they remained in constant communication with the emergency department in Mater Dei. He added that at hospital other emergency cases that had nothing to do with the accident continued to eveived the necessary attention.
Apart from Mater Dei paramedics, people who gave assistance on site were members of the Red Cross, CPD and other doctors, nurses and first aiders who were attending the event.
In his comments Dr Joslin emphasized the need for ongoing training. “What happened yesterday showed that we are prepared for such accidents,” but added that preparation and training are the key words. He said that in the coming weeks a number of events are coming up and “we need to make sure we are ready for anything that can occur because what happened yesterday can occur again and when it happens we need to be ready.”
When asked if emergency doctors are consulted prior to such events so as to minimize the risk, Dr Joslin said that there is no hard and fast rule. When it comes to health and safety in an event like that of yesterday Dr Joslin said that “we are not the experts but it is more the remit of the engineers and architects. We are usually consulted when there is an event, like Isle of MTV and Notte Bianca, where you know that a big mass of people will be attending at the same time.”
Photos: Hristo Bundevski Facebook