By Jeremy Sollars
THE Queensland Ambulance Service will meet with the operators of Gap Creek Farmstay at Tregony north of Warwick tomorrow, Friday 16 December, to discuss an ongoing spate of motorbike accidents.
As reported last week in the Free Times, dozens of injuries to riders visiting the popular venue this year have seen ambulances from Warwick and the RACQ LifeFlight helicopters called multiple times in what some are beginning to see as a potentially life-threatening drain on resources.
QAS Assistant Commissioner Rod Sheather will meet with brothers Matt and Ben Window who jointly run the family business, to discuss ways to “potentially reduce the workload” of the emergency services.
An incident on the weekend of 3-4 December partly related to ambulance resources being tied up at Gap Creek Farmstay involved a 13-year-old boy who was injured playing cricket in Warwick around 1.40pm on the Saturday.
The boy – who was struck in the eye with a cricket ball – was rushed to Warwick Hospital, but was forced to wait for more than four hours for an ambulance to transport him to hospital in Brisbane.
The boy suffered a blood clot from the injury with pressure from the clot constricting his optic nerve, causing fears he could lose his sight.
A source close to the boy’s family, who declined to be named, said hospital staff advised him one of three available Warwick ambulances had been diverted to Gap Creek Farmstay after the boy’s arrival at Warwick Hospital and the other two were attending incidents at Leyburn and Karara.
The child was eventually taken to Brisbane by an ambulance diverted from Stanthorpe and surgery on the eye was not required.
Ben Window told the Free Times this week they welcomed the discussions with QAS.
He said many regular riders from outside the area visited Gap Creek Farmstay as they “felt safer” than in unsupervised dirt bike environments like State Forests and urban industrial estates.
“Everyone who comes here gets an induction and a handbook and they sign an indemnity,” he said.
“Our tracks are very heavily supervised, and if someone has an accident we close down that section of track, and if they believe they require an ambulance then we contact them.
“We would never contact the emergency services without the rider’s consent.”
Mr Window said south-east Queensland had the highest percentage of dirt bike ownership in Australia, with an estimated 250,000 bikes.
He said dirt bike riding was an inherently dangerous sport, and riders who took things too far were cautioned by Gap Creek Farmstay staff if they felt there was a need.
Mr Window said his own calculations showed that only around .05 per cent of all their visitors – which could number up to 400 on a typical weekend – sustained an injury.
He also said December tended to be their quietest period with people saving money for Christmas, but January would be busy with school holidays.
