A DOCTOR has revealed the moment he arrived at the scene of the Scotch College bus crash where he found his own child injured alongside several other students.
When the bus – carrying 21 students and four adults – rolled over just outside Nelson Wednesday afternoon, Associate Professor Dr Alan O’Connor was one of the first to be notified.
Travelling on the school rowing camp as the designated doctor, he quickly rushed to the scene of the crash where paramedics were already attending to a number of passengers.
One of those passengers was his own daughter.
“Every year they send a rowing team away, they send a doctor with the team and I was that doctor,” he said.
“My own child was on the bus and I have a couple of other colleagues who had children on the bus, but thankfully they are okay.”
Despite his teenage daughter requiring transportation to the Mount Gambier Hospital, Dr O’Connor stayed on the scene of the crash to continue to support the emergency services.
“I did not have a chance to talk to her much, I spoke to her at the scene obviously, but she will be very well cared for in Mount Gambier,” he said.
“It’s a bit strange when you know all the children and your own child is involved, but you just have to go through it and do what has to be done.”
He said the first responders had to quickly assess the severity of the injuries of each student.
“There were children who were both injured and uninjured and we quickly tried to triage those who were uninjured and send them back to camp with parents,” Dr O’Connor said.
“Those who had minor injuries we got off the roadside because it was wet and cold and we sent them with parents to the hospital.
“For the more seriously injured we awaited on more paramedics to arrive and the helicopter crew to arrive.”
Dr O’Connor praised the work of the emergency services who first arrived on the scene.
“I was part of a huge team of paramedics and police, which worked really well especially since there were emergency services from both sides of the border,” Dr O’Connor said.
No students condition was considered life-threatening and Dr O’Connor said it was incredible that people were able to walk away from the accident.
“I think it is incredible that people were able to walk away from this and that no-one was seriously injured,” Dr O’Connor said.
“The school community are shocked obviously and they are sending staff to make sure the school community is looked after.”
