Surfers trauma training

By Jo Kennett

LOCAL BOARDRIDERS attended a free trauma training course run by Surfing NSW at Cabarita Beach Surf Lifesaving Club on Wednesday, May 24, run by leading special operations paramedics.

The Trauma Training Course (Bleeding Control in Aquatic Environment) was taught by TacMed Australia medics. Former frontline military service members include TacMed National Training Officer Matt Pepper.

Matt has an impressive resume. After seven years in army combat roles, he transitioned to emergency services as an intensive care/special operations paramedic. He is the founder of the Australian Tactical Medical Association, has a master of philosophy, pre-hospital response to terrorism, a graduate diploma in disaster response and preparedness, and is a Churchill Fellow.

“I’ve been a paramedic for about 17 years, Matt said.

“I became an intensive care paramedic afterwards, so I’ve mainly worked on special operations accessing patients in difficult or dangerous areas.

“My main experience has been in tactical roles, working with the NSW Tactical Police and Riot Squad, and a lot of the training we do now is translating the lessons we’ve learned in those really dangerous, high-threat areas such as sieges or hostage situations, or the worst-case scenarios of having someone like a terrorist or a right-wing extremist conducting some sort of intentional mass violence attacks.

“We try to translate all the lessons we’ve learned from the battlefield and from tactical environments in policing and ambulance — that high threat medicine — across to these surfers.

“When you have a propeller strike, a fin chop or a shark attack, you’ve got a threat in the water, an environment where you can’t treat your patient effectively, so we teach them how to rapidly treat a patient but also to keep themselves safe and maintain situational awareness.”

Surfing NSW Programs and Education Manager Adam Seminara said the NSW Depart- ment of Primary Industry has provided funding through their shark mitigation program.

“We wanted to help out surfers, so stage one was giving them trauma kits and stage two is showing them how to use it, including improvised training if you don’t have that kit on hand, for instance using a shoe as a windlass to tighten a (T-shirt) tourniquet,” Adam said.

“TacMed had the kits we wanted and their experiences of being on the frontline seemed like a perfect fit.

“We have surf school instructors and boardrider club members learning things like tourniquet use and how to stop traumatic bleeds.”

Adam had some tips for tourniquet use.

“High, tight and horizontal; usually you want to go about three fingers above the injury.

“TacMed teaches wound packing in places you can’t apply a tourniquet, like junction wounds, for instance under arms, or in the groin, and also hypothermia.

“With heavy bleeds you need to keep the patient warm, so leave wetsuits on unless you can’t see the wound, as they bleed out quicker because blood doesn’t clot as well if you are cold.

“A lot of lifeguards haven’t even been taught this information. It’s not a first aid course; it’s built around someone having the worst day of their life.”

Surfing NSW Head of Programs and Community, Matt Lawson, said surfers are often the first responders in ocean trauma incidents. “Every cent that we are getting is going straight back into boardrider clubs.

“We’ve also invested a lot into training videos with TacMed you can see on our website.”

Watch these potentially life saving videos on: surfersrescue247.com/surf-trauma-techniques-2