Video Transcription
Red Frogs Schoolies
Once we got in there, we realised that one of the girls had had a lot of alcohol, a lot of other substances, and not a lot of food and water that day. I looked like I was in a well. I was in a pretty bad place, and I think that, yeah, we’re extremely, extremely lucky because I definitely could have lost my life that night if it wasn’t for you guys and my friends.
My name is Gugu. This is my third year with Red Frogs as a team member down at Schoolies. It’s been a really good week. We’ve definitely had some serious situations but also just been able to connect with Schoolies and have fun times as well. We were called in by a group of girls to a situational hotel room, and we didn’t know what was going to be there because they couldn’t— they’re so distraught that they couldn’t explain it over the phone.
Once we got in there, we realized that one of the girls had had a lot of alcohol, a lot of other substances, and not a lot of food and water that day, and their friends were just so distraught. So, I guess what we managed to do in that situation was be able to come and reassure the girls, but I guess be those decision makers and say, “Look, we’re going to have to call an ambulance.” And they didn’t want to. They didn’t want to get in trouble, but we sort of reasoned with them and said, “Look, you’re not going to get in trouble. We’d rather have your life be safe,” and called an ambulance.
So, I think that’s probably a big thing with Red Frogs, because not only were we able to be in that situation to care for them and take care of their immediate needs, but we managed to also connect with them. I guess in the future, they know that Red Frogs are people that they can trust and call whenever they are in those kinds of situations.
My name is Macy, and this is my best friend Remy. We’re here on the Gold Coast. We booked this probably the beginning of last year. I’ve been counting down for Schoolies since 480-something days. Being a teenage girl, you know, it’s sort of just like, you know, the thought of being like, “Schoolies!” like, “Oh my god, let’s just do it!”
So, obviously, Monday night, I probably did some things I probably shouldn’t. And I had, you know, I collapsed a few times. I had a seizure. I was unconscious. So, I was just literally in this room. There was a whole heap of people in our room, just like, you know, our neighbors and stuff, and they were all in here. And then I was sort of like, I just— I honestly just felt fine. Like, I was like, “Oh, I’m all good. Like, it’s all good, you know.” And then next minute, Leah and Clara and every man and his dog were in here, like, making sure that I was okay, and it just felt really good.
And then the next day, all the girls were like, “You were like vomiting up blood, and you were actually like in a real bad way.” And like an hour later, I was like, “All right, let’s go. Like, let’s keep going,” you know, sort of thing. So, it was quite scary, I think, not just for myself, but I think for my friends, because they’ve never sort of seen me like that completely before. But I think that in having the Red Frogs here also made my friends feel— well, I felt—I didn’t feel judged at all. I just felt like, you know, we had backup. We had like supports.
I looked like I was in a well. I was in a pretty bad place, and I think that, yeah, we’re extremely, extremely lucky because I definitely could have lost my life that night if it wasn’t for you guys and my friends. So, yeah, it’s crazy to think about what could happen in those situations where we were, you know, the right people there at the right time and what would have happened if we weren’t there and if we didn’t have Red Frogs in hotel rooms and on the streets, and if ambulances weren’t able to make it there in time.
And I guess for me, it’s just such a big—it’s a great honour that I can be there at the right time and I can be someone who’s connected with disabilities and being able to give them the care that they need when they need it the most. We get to be the eyes and ears, not only in the streets but in hotels as well, down at the beach parties, everywhere. We’ve sort of, I guess, been able to connect with Schoolies, which means that we can bridge them to some of the services that we have, so we can be at the right place at the right time for the Schoolies and be a referral service as well.
Definitely, in these serious situations, a lot of Schoolies don’t know what to do. They’re confused, and when we come in, like, they’re usually like, they know that Red Frogs are there to help them. So, immediately, so many of them think of Red Frogs for help. A lot of them would call like an ambulance or call someone else to help, but they’re so worried that they’ll get in trouble that they’d rather risk their lives and not call an ambulance. So, what we can do is say, “Look, you’re not going to get in trouble. We just want you to be safe. We’re going to call an ambulance, and while we wait for them, we’re going to do everything we can for you.” And that’s definitely such a big thing for them.
If the Frogs didn’t exist, I think my friends would have had a heart attack. I also think that I probably would have just literally just laid on the couch and just would have kept vomiting out blood and like, very in a very, very, very bad place because it was a bit of like a waiting game. So, I sort of just had to like wait for, you know, it to sort of surpass and, you know, everything to sort of get out of my system. And I think that, yeah, if the Frogs weren’t here, I literally could quite possibly be dead because I’ve got other, you know, health conditions and stuff like that that really, if, you know, they had, you know, mixed together or, you know, like if it was just worse timing, you know, I literally—if it was a little bit, you know, if you guys weren’t here and it was about five minutes, you know, I could be a completely different story now, you know. So, yeah, very, very, very lucky.
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