First Aid skills save lives, and in our industry, we unfortunately may need to use them more than most. In fact, over 67% of truck drivers will be the first responder to an accident at some point in their career. The importance of First Aid knowledge can’t be underestimated.
Considering the remote regions many of our members drive through on a regular basis, the need for First Aid is amplified. It can be a long time before medical aid is on the scene of an accident. Alarmingly, road deaths are also on the rise in Australia and have been for the last four years. Anything we can do to help reverse that trend is an opportunity we should not shy away from.
That’s why we’re pleased to announce NatRoad has secured new funding to enable the roll out of our existing Truckie First Aid e-learning program in multiple languages.
Developed by St John Ambulance Australia in partnership with NatRoad, this easy-access training package was originally launched in October 2023. The training has so far reached around 1,500 truck drivers. The funding has been obtained through the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator’s (NHVR), Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative (HVSI), supported by the Australian Government.
The funding will allow the online first aid training to be translated into up to seven new languages. This will make it easier for drivers with English as a second language to be fully immersed in the learning experience, while reducing any potential barriers to taking the course in the first place.
The project will be completed by the end of this year, leading to more drivers out on the road with skills such as how to perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), how to stop various types of bleeding, and how to ensure an airway is open and unobstructed. These three skills alone can save lives in the crucial first minutes of a vehicle crash or roadside incident and prevent irreversible damage. If a person is not breathing, it only takes three minutes for their brain cells to start dying. If you succeed in reopening their airway or restarting their heart, you give the emergency services valuable time to arrive and provide further care. A person can also bleed to death in less than five minutes, if the first responder doesn’t know how to stem the bleeding effectively.
The first five minutes are critical, and the more people out on the roads with this knowledge, the better.
As anyone who’s been a first responder knows, it can be extremely stressful. Knowing what to do when the time comes can improve the mental health outcomes in the aftermath of an incident. A recent national survey by St John found that people who had undertaken first aid training were significantly more likely to have confidence in their ability to provide care in an emergency (74%) compared to those that had not undertaken first aid training (31%).
Even though 33% of Australian adults surveyed recently had witnessed a health or medical emergency in last 12 months, First Aid training across the board in Australia is quite low compared to other countries.
Road safety is an issue that must be approached from more than one perspective. NatRoad is also focused on raising the AusRAP star rating levels of highways, and a raft of other initiatives to keep us all safe. More details are available in our Road to 2028 national reform agenda, available on our website, as are details of the Truckie First Aid program.
Truckie First Aid is a training that takes 30-40min, is available to everyone, everywhere, even on your phone at a rest stop. Truckies can save lives, do the training and be ready.
Free, online Truckie First Aid training is available to complete any time at: truckiefirstaid.org.au
