Gascoyne Dash organisers blame last-minute cancellation on Carnarvon Hospital capacity

Around 100 motorcycle enthusiasts have been left high and dry after a high -aw forwar -expected desert racing event was canceled in Regional WA.

The organizers of Gascoyne Dash, an annual event held in a circuit near Carnarvon about 900 kilometers north of Perth, said they had to cancel at the last minute because the local hospital had capacity.

However, 22 cars were allowed to continue Sunday afternoon, after hours of uncertainty.

No one was admitted to the hospital of that event.

Gascoyne Dash works for three days with a mixture of motorcycles and car events on several land.

The cancellation was a shock for Riley Fletcher, 21, who had traveled from Perth for the race.

“It was disappointing, but there was nothing that the organizers of the event could do,” he said.

“You need a lot of time, money and effort to prepare bicycles for the race, and we will have to wait until October to compete in the next desert race.”

Caroline O’Meagher, whose teenage children had to compete in the bicycle career, said he was furious when he heard the news.

“People could start asking: ‘Is it worth risking all that money if the same happens again next year?”

The event director, Ben Broede, said the cancellation was “quite disappointing” and a “great blow” for the organizers and the committee.

He said that while the event had its own medical team, which included paramedics and helicopters, ultimately, there was not enough space in the hospital.

“The risk to the event is if we cannot send those patients to a hospital to obtain more care, we cannot guarantee continuous safety and health for those competitors,” he said.

Seven competitors presented themselves to the emergency department on Saturday, which Broede said that “it was not offline” with other motorized events of similar scale and size.

WA Country Health Service (Wachs) said the organizers had claimed that they expected zero injuries of the event and that Health Carnarvon campus was totally attended.

“Any decision to cancel or alter the Gascoyne Dash event program was not taken or recommended by Wachs,” said a department spokesman.

“In addition to the normal load of Saturday, 12 victims were admitted for a period of five hours, and some require evacuation to the trauma unit of the Royal Perth Hospital.

Wachs confirmed that he had also deployed two teams through the letter from other parts of the state to avoid personnel fatigue in order to provide safe care to the Carnarvon community.

‘Great increase’ in victims

Prime Minister Roger Cook supported Wachs’ statement that he had not asked Gascoyne Dash organizers to cancel the motorcycle race.

“The 12 people who come to a small regional hospital for a 24 -hour period would obviously put that hospital under pressure,” Cook said.

“We do not want these injuries to press local health services or other services under pressure.

ABC understands that WA police had contacted Worksafe Wa to request that the event closed.

In an answer, the WA Police said it helped to the health service of the WA country in a support capacity, but the off -road racing event was not a police issue.

When asked about the police requests to Worksafe, WA Police Minister Reece Whitby said he had not been informed about the situation, but maintained that Carnarvon hospital “responded properly.”

“The event resulted in a great increase in the victims that cross the door,” he said.

“I think it is about planning and communication between the organizers of the event and if we can learn a lesson in the future, then that is something good.”

Questions in Parliament

The deputy of the west, Shane Love, said he would demand answers from WA’s Minister of Health about why the hospital could not deal with the event patients.

“We need to get to the background because we want to see events such as Gascoyne Dash in the future because they are vital,” he said.