Letter to the Editor: Jennifer McRae shares why the construction of Range Road won’t save lives in emergencies

Over the last few months, Albany has heard an intriguing new narrative from the lips of more than one Albany councillor.

The proposition is that Albany needs Range Road so emergency services like St John can get patients to hospital quicker.

As a former registered nurse with decades of experience in doctorless settings like high schools and remote area clinics, I want to end this fearmongering campaign.

Building Range Road might shave off a few seconds to hospital. However, what will save a life in an emergency is first aid before paramedics arrive.

Over the last 30 years we have seen the democratisation of first aid training and growing access to portable defibrillators in the community.

This has been a game changer for emergency care in public spaces and has significantly improved survival rates.

Timely first aid administered by a “lay person”’ could be a torniquet to control bleeding, the use of an epi-pen for anaphylaxis, Ventolin for asthma, glucagon for a diabetic low, and an automated defib for cardiac arrest.

These are basic patient stabilisation practices which any one of us can do until paramedics arrive.

The life of former City of Albany mayor Dennis Wellington was saved by the timely application of the portable defib which hangs on the wall of the library.

The quick thinking of his first aider ensured the mayor’s heart kept beating and his blood circulating through his body.

This bought him vital lifesaving time. Life is saved by human intervention, not a road.

The idea that we need Range Road to get to hospital quicker to ensure survival is a fallacy.

As we see from the former mayor’s experience, first aid was what saved his life. He was not made to wait for emergency treatment until he was wheeled into accident and emergency.

If the level of road congestion in Albany and the distance to travel was the deciding factor between life and death, it would mean by that logic that, in every Australian capital city, every patient needing an ambulance would arrive at hospital dead (because of the higher congestion and longer travel times than we have in Albany).

This is just not the case.

Albany has a good road network, with a system of short cuts locals use to bypass congestion or traffic accidents.

Our peak hour is short-lived, and coincides with school hours.

The Albany community is well versed in giving emergency services the right of way.

The town is quickly alerted by observant locals who share news of accidents on our Albany moan and groan Facebook pages, and we get notifications via emergency apps.

We avoid these locations until the situation is dealt with.

Our town has more than one ambulance, highly skilled paramedics, and a supporting volunteer workforce which we must protect against staff shortages.

Importantly, we are big fans of first aid training which is an important life skill that is now routinely delivered to school students of all ages.

With our new headquarters moved away from the congestion of Campbell Road, the dispatch time has shortened.

It is these many variables that also help save lives.

So the next time you hear the war cry “We need Range Road to save lives”, the fact of the matter is your friendly first aider will be your lifesaver, not a piece of bitumen.

Jennifer McRaeAlbany WA

Letters to the editor must contain the author’s full name, address and daytime contact number. Letters may be edited for space, clarity or legal reasons. Email greatsouthern@wanews.com.au or post to PO Box 5168 Albany, WA, 6332.