SAILING THE CYTOKINE STORM SINCE LATE 2019 The Byron Shire Echo • Volume 37 #07 • July 27, 2022 • www.echo.net.au
Mullumbimby is without ambulance base
Splendid for some, not so for others
Paul Bibby Ambulance services in and around Mullumbimby are being compromised by the ongoing closure of the town’s ambulance station and the use of its paramedics as ‘fill-ins’ for towns outside the Shire, a local paramedic says. The paramedic, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Echo that the Mullumbimby ambulance station on Gordon Street had been out of action since the first round of flooding.
Shut since February ‘The station’s been shut since the February floods,’ the paramedic said. ‘Only minor repairs are needed, but work hasn’t started.’ The paramedic said that the Mullumbimby ambulance crews had been working out of the Byron Bay station. And while located there, they were frequently being used by the ambulance control centre as additional services for places like Lismore, Ballina and Tweed Heads. This limited the availability of ambulance services in and around Mullumbimby. ‘We are used as area fillers,’ the paramedic said. ‘This is happening regularly.’ The paramedic said that a temporary location within Mullumbimby could be found to accommodate the ambulance crew until the station was repaired. This could take the form of a community building or even a ▶ Continued on page 2
Despite the lows there were highs: Fiesta Creations crew brought colour and movement to Splendour. More festival photos by Jeff Dawson on page 27. Miabella Quirk I’d go back for the music in the kebab shop. I don’t who it was, it was just straight-forward house doof. But I wouldn’t go back for the shin deep toxic mud outside of it. I’d go back for the great view from the Amphitheatre hill. But not the foot-grabbing mud at the bottom that nearly took my boot. My friend lost his sole, not just the tip of it, but the whole bottom as soon as we got in. Besides the music they played in the kebab store, Tyler The Creator was a highlight, so was Jack Harlow quizzing the crowd in his strong Kentucky drawl.
Is the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation doing anything yet? ▶ p7
When I bought the tickets, I was 16 years old. Now 18, I don’t think 16-year-old me would have been happy with a chaperone (as cool as you are, mum). I don’t think I would have handled the first day being cancelled with all the artists I specifically came to Splendour to see, or being greeted by shin deep mud across the festival, broken up by the occasional boardwalk, or understood the trench foot jokes. I don’t know if it’s covid or age, but the two years’ wait made us more tolerant, or maybe just lowered our expectations. We even called it quits before the Strokes finished, thinking we could get out before the crowds
Splendour organisers’ statement ▶ p8
and get on a bus. No luck. The night quickly grew colder, and the low light reflecting off the lakes of cold mud gave a dystopian air. The lack of communication, Wonderwall playing through tinny speakers, instead of announcing their crowd control instructions, the size of the crowd waiting clueless, could have caused yelling and fighting. Instead, everyone was able to remain calm and quiet, perhaps too exhausted to do anything else. At one point, a woman to my left fainted, and a path instantly formed in the tightly-packed crowd to allow for paramedics to bring her out into the open air. This may have been our tipping
Byron students rise to the climate challenge ▶ p11
point, as my friends and I pushed our way to seek answers from the police lining the fence holding us in.
Systems not working At this point they must have realised that this system wasn’t working, as they began shouting out names of places and saying people going there should push through. We broke free of the crowd, and made our way to the Mullumbimby bus, on which we sat in silence; dirty and angry. The next day the mud was thicker but the buses were faster, making our average experience seem incredibly efficient.
90 per cent of people love a good statistics article ▶ p16 9
9
Making great spaces ▶ p32
Friday Night
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