Arabic version: تحقيق هيلكريست يستمع إلى إفادة أول المستجيبين

According to ABC News, First Class Constable Dean Wotherspoon told the coronial inquest into the Hillcrest Primary School tragedy that the emergency response was “organised chaos”, with police, school staff and paramedics working to save children.

Wotherspoon gave evidence before Coroner Olivia McTaggart on Wednesday about the December 16, 2021 tragedy in north-west Tasmania. Six children died after a freak wind gust tossed a jumping castle across the school oval during end-of-year celebrations, while three classmates were seriously injured.

The officer said he was among the first police officers at the school after being called from a fatal car crash south of Ulverstone. He described the event as unlike anything he had encountered since joining the police in 1995, saying he had never faced a mass casualty event of that scale.

He said responsibilities were initially unclear, but considered complete coordination and appreciation of such a large and complex scene almost impossible at the initial stage. Wotherspoon described helping paramedics, then later turning to documenting the scene for forensic examination.

Wotherspoon said he would have acted differently if given another opportunity, including staying at the school rather than travelling to Mersey Community Hospital to photograph children taken there. He said he should have remained in his forensic coordination role, though he did not believe mistakes at the scene materially affected the forensic examination. The inquest is due to resume on Friday before adjournments for further evidence in November and February.