Cape Town played host to the 20th edition of the World Rescue Challenge this week with rescue services personnel from around the world gathered at Athlone Stadium to compete in various categories.
They tested their knowledge and shared skills in vehicle extrication and trauma incidents. The event was hosted by the South African Medical Rescue Organisation and the World Rescue Organisation.
South Africa has one of the highest road death tolls in the world, with over 14 000 fatalities recorded last year.
Accident scenes at the World Rescue Challenge were, however, simulated. EMS Rescue Andrew Holmes says the challenge was a learning experience.
“It’s a great opportunity to be part of this. Especially having so many international teams present here, the networking, the experiences you gain from it. Our country having one of the highest accident rates, we can actually teach them a thing or two as well, because we do a lot of road accidents and we get involved with a lot of extrications so we can share our experiences as well with them and the type of equipment that we use and techniques. So we get a great deal of expertise and experience out of this opportunity.”
Maggie Castro, a fire fighter from Miami, in the United States, says they went through intense training while preparing for the competition.
“We did practice to come for this competition so we ask volunteers from our own department, we ask fire-fighters to come play victims for us and it changes their whole perspective when they are the victims inside of the car. It’s a very different experience and we have been told by everyone that has participated as a victim that it has completely changed their perspective when they go to a car accident after that point. They understand that the victim is scared, that the victim is going through something that they had not imagined before. So they can now empathise with the patients and treat them a little bit better and make sure that they take care of the patients.”
Dr Pieter Vente from the Global Road Safety Partnership in Africa says it appears as if government is starting to do more to reduce the carnage on South Africa’s roads.
South Africa’s road safety statistics do not compare well to the rest of the world. Although it’s little bit better than that of the rest of Africa, our rates are about 10 times higher than those of European countries.
The annual competition seeks to assist with the dissemination of emergency rescue and medical techniques. It is also aimed at ensuring effective management of road traffic collisions and the care of those involved.
The 2019 edition of the World Rescue Challenge will be hosted in France.
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