On Saturday 20th November 2021, I took part in a Biker Down course organised by Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service and Northamptonshire Police. It was held at Northamptonshire Police’s Wootton Hall headquarters.
I first became aware of the course in August via Facebook and requested a place. The September course was oversubscribed, but the organiser was good enough to place me on the waiting list so that I could take part in a subsequent one.
This is how the course is positioned “the free first aid training will help you to manage the scene if you come across a motorcycle traffic collision”.
I had never attended a first aid course before. Over the years I had numerous opportunities to become a workplace first aider but, whilst I fancied the knowledge, I never really wanted the responsibility that came with being one. But as part of the motorcycling fraternity, I thought that taking some responsibility was the right thing to do because I’d want to be able to help if I came across a downed rider … and I’d want others to have some insight if they came across me in a downed situation.
Everyone that rides a motorcycle knows the risk that they are taking. Motorcycle riders are so much more vulnerable on the road and have a far greater chance of being killed or seriously injured in an accident than those in cars.
I know that I could end up in serious trouble if I come off, but it’s not something that I dwell upon. If I did, I wouldn’t ride.
At the event, the presenters shared their experiences of real-life situations in a graphic way that would bother the squeamish and potentially put would-be riders off bothering at all.
For example, the fire service uses thermal imaging cameras to find riders, or bits of them, at accident scenes because riders, or their passengers (or bits of them), may end up some distance away from the crash. Nice.
The presenters were riders themselves and the point of the course was not to scare attendees, but rather to create awareness and give practical advice to better manage risk.
In essence the course ran through the following:
The course took an entire morning so I can’t share all the content with you in this post. There were some great bits of advice however that I’ll share with you now.
The police and the fire service are fans of hi viz. When the room was asked ‘who routinely wears it’, my hand shot up … but as it turned out, I was in the minority. My hi viz has always been yellow, but it turns out that different colour hi viz has benefits at certain times of day. In daylight orange stands out more than yellow and at night, the reverse is true.
Another valuable piece of advice was aimed at car drivers who help others at crash scenes. Apparently, it is not uncommon for concerned passers by to let those involved in accidents sit in their cars to keep warm. That will sometimes end up with the well-intentioned helper getting their car roof chopped off. The reason this happens is that those involved in car accidents often get a surge of adrenaline that masks the pain of things like whiplash. As soon as the adrenaline hit wears off and victims are in pain, getting them out of a vehicle may end up involving the hydraulic cutters. This is because the blue light rescue folk are required to keep a victim’s C-spine straight – that means lifting them straight up (and a roof is then a problem). The fire service has had to cut off police car roofs for this reason too.
Another valuable hint/tip was about location identification. I wasn’t familiar with the 3 Words app, but it is now downloaded to my phone. The app, which the emergency services use, mean that they can pinpoint the location of an incident easily and get to it much faster. And bloody useful if you are in a flap to have an app think clearly for you.
It wasn’t just advice on offer, practical stuff was being demonstrated too like helmet removal and CPR. I got to have a go at CPR on a dummy and blimey, it’s harder and more brutal than I ever expected. The force by which you need to pump is often enough to crack a person’s ribs. It’s exhausting too; you have to maintain a rate of about 100 compressions per minute – 30 check, 30 check etc. It’s quite a workout and easier if two people are present to share the workload.
I didn’t realise that the purpose of CPR is only to keep blood flowing around the body manually until the medics can administer the drugs that are actually likely to get the person’s heart going again. Keeping blood moving is essential in reducing the post heart failure impairments that a victim might have to live with if they survive.
So, after a morning’s investment of time, I came away with much to reflect upon.
I first became aware of the course in August via Facebook and requested a place. The September course was oversubscribed, but the organiser was good enough to place me on the waiting list so that I could take part in a subsequent one.
This is how the course is positioned “the free first aid training will help you to manage the scene if you come across a motorcycle traffic collision”.
I had never attended a first aid course before. Over the years I had numerous opportunities to become a workplace first aider but, whilst I fancied the knowledge, I never really wanted the responsibility that came with being one. But as part of the motorcycling fraternity, I thought that taking some responsibility was the right thing to do because I’d want to be able to help if I came across a downed rider … and I’d want others to have some insight if they came across me in a downed situation.
Everyone that rides a motorcycle knows the risk that they are taking. Motorcycle riders are so much more vulnerable on the road and have a far greater chance of being killed or seriously injured in an accident than those in cars.
I know that I could end up in serious trouble if I come off, but it’s not something that I dwell upon. If I did, I wouldn’t ride.
At the event, the presenters shared their experiences of real-life situations in a graphic way that would bother the squeamish and potentially put would-be riders off bothering at all.
For example, the fire service uses thermal imaging cameras to find riders, or bits of them, at accident scenes because riders, or their passengers (or bits of them), may end up some distance away from the crash. Nice.
The presenters were riders themselves and the point of the course was not to scare attendees, but rather to create awareness and give practical advice to better manage risk.
In essence the course ran through the following:
- Avoiding getting into an incident through sensible riding decision making
- Managing the scene of an accident
- Making sure that you/others are safe and can be seen
- Communicating with the emergency services
- Taking care of casualties as best as you can
- Liaising with the emergency services once they are on scene
The course took an entire morning so I can’t share all the content with you in this post. There were some great bits of advice however that I’ll share with you now.
The police and the fire service are fans of hi viz. When the room was asked ‘who routinely wears it’, my hand shot up … but as it turned out, I was in the minority. My hi viz has always been yellow, but it turns out that different colour hi viz has benefits at certain times of day. In daylight orange stands out more than yellow and at night, the reverse is true.
Another valuable piece of advice was aimed at car drivers who help others at crash scenes. Apparently, it is not uncommon for concerned passers by to let those involved in accidents sit in their cars to keep warm. That will sometimes end up with the well-intentioned helper getting their car roof chopped off. The reason this happens is that those involved in car accidents often get a surge of adrenaline that masks the pain of things like whiplash. As soon as the adrenaline hit wears off and victims are in pain, getting them out of a vehicle may end up involving the hydraulic cutters. This is because the blue light rescue folk are required to keep a victim’s C-spine straight – that means lifting them straight up (and a roof is then a problem). The fire service has had to cut off police car roofs for this reason too.
Another valuable hint/tip was about location identification. I wasn’t familiar with the 3 Words app, but it is now downloaded to my phone. The app, which the emergency services use, mean that they can pinpoint the location of an incident easily and get to it much faster. And bloody useful if you are in a flap to have an app think clearly for you.
It wasn’t just advice on offer, practical stuff was being demonstrated too like helmet removal and CPR. I got to have a go at CPR on a dummy and blimey, it’s harder and more brutal than I ever expected. The force by which you need to pump is often enough to crack a person’s ribs. It’s exhausting too; you have to maintain a rate of about 100 compressions per minute – 30 check, 30 check etc. It’s quite a workout and easier if two people are present to share the workload.
I didn’t realise that the purpose of CPR is only to keep blood flowing around the body manually until the medics can administer the drugs that are actually likely to get the person’s heart going again. Keeping blood moving is essential in reducing the post heart failure impairments that a victim might have to live with if they survive.
So, after a morning’s investment of time, I came away with much to reflect upon.
Thank God though that I haven’t had to put my newfound skills/awareness into use yet.
I have since acquired some orange hi viz so that in the daytime I can look like a motorway roadworker when out on my Honda. On the bright side (cause it’s hi viz, haha – pun intended), I now look less like a lollipop person.
By way of a wrap, I recommend this course to others. They are being organised around the country by local emergency services and are well worth the time. And on that matter, I want to thank the team that gave up its time on a Saturday morning to help inform and educate me.
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I have since acquired some orange hi viz so that in the daytime I can look like a motorway roadworker when out on my Honda. On the bright side (cause it’s hi viz, haha – pun intended), I now look less like a lollipop person.
By way of a wrap, I recommend this course to others. They are being organised around the country by local emergency services and are well worth the time. And on that matter, I want to thank the team that gave up its time on a Saturday morning to help inform and educate me.
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