Major Incident Care Principles

Dear members,

The nature of our sport means that, sometimes, major incidents occur where a fellow member's health or life are impacted. This can have an immediate or even a delayed effect on the member(s) involved, their family, crew mates, club mates, event officials, first responders and witnesses.

It is important that we as a paddling community look out for each other at such times. AOCRA is committed to supporting our members and their families following an accident or medical emergency, so we have provided you all with some pointers and fact sheets that we hope will assist effected members of our community during such times.

Download Actions to Take and Avoid              Download How to Deal with Potentially Significant Events

Please remember that some people will be strong at some stages and have emotions overwhelm them at different times. So when someone needs some support please be there for them and realise that later on they may be the strong one if you ever get down.

Remember Firstly to Give yourself time

Recognise that you have been through an extremely stressful event. Give yourself time and space to acknowledge what you have been through and that you will have an emotional reaction to it. Give yourself permission to feel rotten but don’t over-react – it is unpleasant, but you can cope with it.

Look after yourself

Get plenty of rest, even if you can’t sleep, and try to eat regular, well-balanced meals.

Regular exercise is essential, particularly exercise to the point of sweating like, cycling or jogging, resuming a form of training is very good at reducing the physical effects of stress; try to do a little every day. Relaxing activities such as listening to music, yoga, meditation, or taking a hot bath may also be of use.

Councelling Support

Should you need immediate support please contact Lifeline on 13-11-14. Lifeline is a confidential telephone crisis support service available 24/7 from a landline, payphone or mobile. Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can contact Lifeline.

If you've been involved in a major incident at an outrigging event and would like to discuss face-to-face support options please reach out to members of the management committee, details listed at https://aocra.com.au/, who will refer you to an appropriate support provider.

Kind regards ... Grant

President, AOCRA