Crashes 'tough for everybody,' says M50 first responder

Thousands of people are on the move this bank holiday weekend. In the final part of our road safety series, RTÉ News looks at those who deal with road crashes on a daily basis - first responders.

---

The M50 is the busiest motorway in Ireland and experiences between 10 to 20 incidents per day. Those range from the minor to the major and the Incident Support Unit is often the first on the scene.

"Anything can happen," said Ryan Mulroy of the M50 Incident Response Unit.

"You could be picking up debris off the hard shoulder one minute and the next minute you could be going out to a major collision on the motorway with three lanes blocked.

"It's tough for everybody... Look, we have a very good crew up here and we're all colleagues... we're kind of like a big family. We all get along and we all help each other out in whatever aspect of the job as well.

"And when you're going out to an incident like that [crash], nobody ever wants to see it. Nobody ever wants to go to one. But unfortunately, when it's you [that] gets the call to go, it's up to you to get out."

The unit operates 24 hours a day and has seen increasing incidents of cars deliberately driving the wrong way down the motorway.

"It's the latest trend. It's this new fashion of social media where people are doing these different tasks and trying to outdo the next person and travel further up the road and all. And look, the motorway is a dangerous place regardless of what direction you're travelling in.

"But you have to think about it. If you're willing to get into the vehicle and drive in the opposite direction up a motorway for a TikTok video or a private Snapchat story...

"We get a lot of calls for people travelling the wrong way on the motorway. And it's always been a thing, but not as big as now, because people are actually videoing it now.

"I personally don't understand why anybody would want to put themselves in danger, never mind anybody else," he said.

Mr Mulroy said the most difficult part is not knowing what that car will do.

"It's the unknown. So when we get the call and we know there's a vehicle driving the opposite way down the motorway, we do be a bit nervous in the sense of... where do we have to be?"

Weekends are typically the most dangerous time of the week for road fatalites.

This bank holiday weekend, Mr Mulroy had a clear message for motorists: "Enjoy your time off, please drive safe, keep an eye on what's going on around you, drive to the conditions on the road... don't be a [fatality] number on the radio on Tuesday morning."

A firefighter with the Dublin Fire Brigade said dealing with serious road crashes can take a toll on those involved.

Community Fire Safety Officer Derek Riordan said: "We are dual trained as firefighters and paramedics. And yes, there has been occasions where we would deal with multi-casualties with polytrauma."

"We have a system in place in Dublin Fire Brigade where we have 24 peer support workers on hand to help colleagues in the form of CISM, which is critical incident stress management.

"And in the aftermath of a traumatic situation, whether it be an RTC (road traffic crash) or a traumatic injury of a patient or possibly a paediatric, we will mobilise peer support walkers through either a control room or a station officer on scene.

"And we will talk to the individuals involved on the crew and then, if needs be, we will perform what's called a defusal, usually within 72 hours of the incident, just to talk about exactly what happened.

"Stress is a normal occurance to an abnormal event," he said, and firefighers are encouraged to be mindful of that and take care of themselves particularly in the 72 hours after a difficult, sometimes traumatic call out.

Mr Riordan expects emergency services to be busy this weekend.

"I think it's going to be a busy weekend and everybody knows it's the lead up to Halloween as well, so it's getting busier as the weeks go on.

"The bank holiday is always a particularly busy weekend, so I would urge... motorists to slow down, stay safe and have a good weekend."