ACLM President, Sandra Johnson, has been awarded a NSW Ambulance Citation for Courage - Community, an award in recognition of her courageous actions when she arrived at the scene of an accident. The citation explains:
"On 7 February 2018, Dr Sandra Johnson and Cathy Cummins were first on the scene of a high speed motorcycle and car collision. The motorcyclist had been thrown off his bike and landed on the bonnet of the car with the vehicle obstructing both lanes of the road.
Sandra identified a potential spinal injury and as a result knew that the patient could not be moved despite the surrounding hazardous traffic. So at risk to herself, Sandra remained with the patient as emergency services were sought and provided a handover to the paramedics once they arrived.
Sandra’s courageous actions were beyond that of expectation and NSW Ambulance commends her for her efforts."
Sandra explains that as a doctor, she went into “automatic mode” and did the best that she could in the situation. The accident was across a main and busy road and she needed to divert traffic once she was sure that the injured person was stable. Sandra was also grateful for other members of public who stopped to help.
Sandra is honoured to receive this award and ACLM says a big congratulations!