This week, many in the Eden community, particularly Kylie Poyner’s family, and the friends and families of the other injured children, are struggling to come to terms with Sunday’s tragedy.
Among those also affected are the emergency service workers, some of whom said the accident scene was the most distressing they had come across.
On Monday, State Emergency Services local controller, John Lacey, said he could not recall anything quite as horrific as Sunday’s fatal crash.
“I don’t recall anything nearly as serious or as horrific as this,” Mr Lacey said.
“Eden is the only SES road crash rescue unit in the Bega Valley Shire. “They are all qualified rescue operators.
“I’ve talked to each and every one of them this morning.
“After a day or two we’ll get back together and we’ll continue to monitor them over the coming days.
“Our people will be very, very well taken care of. We have a second to none process of dealing with trauma, part of that is just talking among ourselves. We’ll check and self check again.
“The SES has an excellent program called critical incident support and that’s a peer support program run by properly trained people.
“We have access to that 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any incident we attend.
“We do our own initial debriefing after the task and then we go from there.
“If people need help they can do that through me or completely anonymously,” Mr Lacey said.
The NSW Fire Brigade critical incident response unit came to Eden on Monday night to debrief those involved at the crash scene.
The three-hour briefing was delivered to around 14 people at the Eden Fire Brigade station, including firies and ambulance paramedics who had attended the scene and a local resident who was one of two people first to arrive at the accident in the early hours of Sunday morning, and who were instrumental in giving critical information to the 000 dispatcher, and in assisting two injured passengers from the vehicle.
Eden Fire Brigade chief Zlatco Nemec said the session was open to anyone who wanted to come.
“The session helped us to understand what to look for when a person is under stress, the signs, the differences in behaviour and what to do if you start to experience those signs or see them in others.
“We hold these sessions when there has been a severe or drawn out incident like a tanker fire, motor vehicle fatality or major structure fires.
“People commented that they got something out of the session which is good,” Mr Nemec said.
A veteran fire brigade member and father of two young children, Mr Nemec has attended many major incidents in his 27 years of service.
“The thing that people always ask me is ‘Is this the worst you have even been involved in?’ When there’s a death involved it is the worst incident, especially when there are kids involved.”
Eden Police Sergeant Scott Blanch is preparing the brief for the coroner.
It will detail forensic information surrounding the cause of the accident, the soundness of the vehicle and a toxicology report.
Interviewed late on Tuesday, Sergeant Blanch said an autopsy would be completed in Wollongong this week.
At the scene of the crash on Sunday, and again in the media on Monday, Inspector Jason Edmunds from Bega Police implored young drivers to look at the stark images from the crash and remind themselves they are not invincible.
“Times like this are a reminder to everyone about the ease with which accidents can happen and the horrendous consequences that can follow,” he said.
“I implore drivers of all areas to be careful on the roads.”
The funeral of Kylie Poyner is likely to be held next week.
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