VIDEO: Simulated fatal crash offers invaluable training for Gabriola first responders

“With the communications outage we’ve witnessed before, that’s one of our priorities. We’ve got a combined events channel that we’ve newly acquired for all the agencies. Just getting the inter-[agency] relationship, working together with the other agencies is a big key to it as well.”

Around 60 first responders, staff and volunteers from a host of local groups took part in the event.

Led by the fire department, B.C. Emergency Health Services paramedics were called out, along with local RCMP officers.

Gabriola Medical Clinic received patients from the scene and treated their injuries, Coast Emergency Communications Association assisted with communication efforts, while Pet and Livestock Services (PALS), the Regional District of Nanaimo and Gabriola Fellowship Church also contributed resources.

The idea was to see how Gabriola could fend for itself if presented with a similar, real-world situation, Sprogis added.

Those participating were told very little before, with a pre-event briefing mentioning a two vehicle crash and little else. A formal page-out followed roughly 10 minutes later which sent vehicles rolling.

“This is quite realistic, a small passenger bus collides with a passenger vehicle then you’ve got some other bystanders in the way,” Sprogis said. “We’re mostly trying to deal with this event as if Nanaimo’s not available to get some ambulances over here, we’re on our own for the first hour or two until other resources come.”

Witnesses and bystanders doubled as nurses for paramedics, helping those simulating serious injuries. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Controlled chaos
The drill went off flawlessly with each agency instantly handling a different task.

Firefighters established a zone around the accident site, just off South Rd. in the 1200-block, controlled traffic, ran hose lines, setup triage areas, extricated injured or deceased people and ultimately used the jaws of life to pry open a damaged car door.

Paramedics began to triage, tagging victims with different coloured ribbons indicating the severity of their injuries.

Yellow meant you could wait, red made you a top priority while black indicated a fatality. At least two people ‘died’ in the incident.

Simultaneously, RCMP officers began an investigation into the incident, identifying a potentially impaired driver while organizing well over a dozen different witnesses eager to provide their information.

“We have to determine without losing any continuity of evidence, how to deal with witnesses and what-not,” Cpl. Jordan Mullen, Gabriola RCMP detachment commander, said. “We need to determine if we need to deal with that situation right now or if we can follow up and get a statement, what’s perishable and what’s not.”

A Gabriola Island RCMP officer stayed with the driver of the car throughout the simulation, ensuring any potential evidence of impairment had its integrity maintained. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

While one officer stayed with the allegedly impaired driver of the car, who kept an open alcohol can in his hand for the majority of the incident, Mullen handled witnesses.

Between having one witness, Jay, come dangerously close to obstructing, to a range of others yelling back and forth, Mullen said it was a challenging environment.

“I understand some people get a little more excited and we just have to calm them down and sometimes that means putting them in the back of our car just to sit out for a few minutes until we can get to everybody else.”

Mullen praised efforts from the first responders taking part, as well as those in the community who made the exercise a success.

Actors were given briefs of their injuries, or fate, prior to the exercise. This victim, who was inside the shuttle bus, had his arm severed off in the crash. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

“They said I’m dead”
Around 20 community actors and people with a free Sunday volunteered their time to be victims of the crash.

Many in the group wore makeup to simulate their injuries, ranging from gashes and bruises to much worse, and were in position when first responders arrived.

Seventeen were riding in a community shuttle bus including two people, Nancy Hout and Sharon Winter who were ejected from the vehicle and killed instantly.

Hout, back from the dead, said it was important for her to contribute to the exercise.

“My brother was a firefighter, retired now, and anything that can help make a mass casualty situation easier for people, they need training and I wanted to help.”

Sharon Winter lays beneath a grey blanket, simulating a fatal victim of a car crash. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Winter said she was told in a briefing she died after being rolled around inside the bus then thrown out of the vehicle.

Not only did Winter die, her body doubled as a hazard for first responders as she lay prone in a high-traffic area.

Still, she described the experience as “quite relaxing, actually”.

“The first part, as soon as I realized the first responders were here, I did play dead and didn’t respond in any way shape or form and I actually gave one poor fireman a bit of a scare and he kneeled down close to me and whispered ‘for real, are you okay?'”

Winter was eventually moved by emergency crews and covered with a blanket, allowing her the opportunity to observe more than act.

“When I did open my eyes and watching, it’s a really good training experience for them. You can see they’re questioning, they’re absorbing, they’re learning and they’re sharing and mentoring. This is essentially the next generation, refreshing everyone’s skills.”

The driver of the car, allegedly impaired, was removed from the vehicle by Gabriola firefighters and taken for treatment. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Lessons learned
A de-brief following the event allowed for feedback from those who took part and will help refine future emergency plans.

It was also an opportunity to review the goals of inter-agency relationships and communication on scene, all of which appeared to be smooth during the drill.

A similar event was staged in 2022 and involved a mock-evacuation of a zone on Gabriola Island during an emergency.

Sprogis said the biggest way the public can help out is by subscribing to emergency notifications through the RDN’s Voyent Alert, as emergency management personnel will distribute potentially life-saving information in the event of a mass disaster.

The jaws of life were needed to free the driver of a two vehicle simulated crash off South Rd. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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by Alex Rawnsley

VIDEO: Simulated fatal crash offers invaluable training for Gabriola first responders

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