Family members serve as first responders to rural road crashes amid calls for more support (2024)

Rachel Harris was 17 years old the night she called her parents to let them know she had finished work and was on her way home, but she never made it.

Stuart and Anna Harris waited at their rural property until they grew worried about how long it was taking her to arrive.

Mr Harris went out in search of their daughter.

Tragically, he was one of the first people on the scene of the crash that killed her.

In that moment, he put the shock of a parent's worst nightmare to one side and his instincts as a Country Fire Service volunteer took over.

"The first police officer that arrived, I told him we need to shut the road off, stop people and trucks coming along the road," Mr Harris said.

"Obviously there was an accident, a major accident and it needed to be secured and they assisted for that.

"Even though it was my daughter on the road … the first responder thing just still kicks into gear."

On that night in December 2020, the family's life changed forever.

Mrs Harris said the wider community was also left reeling.

In small communities like the Harris's in Wolseley, near Bordertown in south-east South Australia, fatal car accidents can affect everyone, especially those who are first on the scene.

"I personally think anybody that has to go deal with that, being a first responder, knowing that there's a high chance they do know all these people in accidents … they're incredible, brave people," Mrs Harris said.

First responders 'left on their own'

In regional and rural areas with small populations, there is a high chance the first person on the scene of a fatal crash could know the people or person involved.

Many regional advocates say mental health support for these first responders is lacking.

Naracoorte GP Sarah Willoughby is part of a network of doctors who receive funding to help emergency service workers.

She has since started volunteering her time to support "lay" first responders — the people first on the scene of an accident in an unofficial capacity.

"Road accidents very rarely happen in front of a fully equipped ambulance or CFS crew," Dr Willoughby said.

"It's very much a community member, a fellow road user, who will come across the accident or even see it happening.

"They are left on their own to assist at the scene, to make the triple-zero call and then support the patients for anything up to 30 minutes before the ambulance arrives."

Dr Willoughby said once help arrived on the scene and emergency services took over, first responders were "basically left on their own".

"It's not something we're geared to come across and it's not something we can prepare for in our daily lives, to come across a nasty accident," she said.

"It can leave you really shaken if you don't have a support network to fall back on."

Advocates say trauma team needs funding

Following an accident, lay first responders are given information on receiving mental health support through the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, the SA Road Trauma Support Team (RTST) or their GP.

The RTST is run by volunteers and receives about $110,000 in state government funding each year.

Megan McLoughlin is based in the Barossa Valley, around an hour north of Adelaide.

She has been advocating for more funding for mental health services, particularly closer to regional people.

Ms McLoughlin said a service like the RTST deserved more funding to support regional people.

"As rural and regional people, we do rely on our community and our community will wrap their arms around us get us through things," she said.

"Not everyone has the ties in the community that others do though … so if we did have a better option then we know the resource would be used."

A state government spokesperson said SA Police referred those involved in serious vehicle crashes to the RTST.

"Any witnesses who police at the scene are identifying as struggling with the trauma they have witnessed are also provided the contact details of the RTST," the spokesperson said.

"The RTST [then provides] guidance and direction of how and where these people can get the support and assistance they need."

The spokesperson added the state government was investing $1.9 million in mental health services for emergency service staff and volunteers across the next four years.

They said the government had also opened new mental health services in regional areas over the past two years, including in Mount Gambier, Port Pirie, Mount Barker, Whyalla and Murray Bridge.

Community rallies in tough times

In the aftermath of Rachel's death, the Harris family was left devastated.

But their small community at Wolseley picked them up and supported them as they got back to running the town's post office and welding business.

Now, the town holds an equestrian competition in honour of Rachel and a friend who also died in a road accident.

Mrs Harris said the family would have struggled to cope in the aftermath of Rachel's death without the support of their small country town.

"There are days where you just don't really want to acknowledge that this has happened to you," she said.

"There's always, always someone there that's prepared to give you a shoulder or a tissue or even just to sit there with you and personally hate the world.

"But you can't stop living because, I guarantee, your child or the person involved wouldn't want you to because they loved you."