Excellence in Leadership St John NT - Remote Area Access Trained Paramedics

St John Ambulance Australia (NT)

Team: James Rowland, Michael Hadj, Andrew Thomas

The Remote Area Access Training program was developed to meet the demand for remote area cases received by St John NT paramedics operating in the Southern Region of the NT.

Southern region coverage extends throughout Central Australia with the township of Alice Springs providing primary road services for up to 150km from the CBD.

Cases outside this limit are managed on a case-by-case basis involving collaboration with other emergency service agencies dependent on location, appropriateness and availability. Once outside the immediate town limits of Alice Springs, the remote setting of operational cases has proven to present a unique set of challenges that require specialised training and response.

The Larapinta Trail, part of the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission, was identified as a frequent remote access location that St John NT responds to. The Larapinta Trail has quickly emerged as one of the most popular trails in which to trek in Australia and as such its popularity has led to an increase of hikers of up to 5000 each year. The increase in traffic has led to an increase in calls for service to St John NT by both experienced and inexperienced walkers.

The trail covers 231 kilometres along the West McDonnell Ranges and runs from Mt Sonder through to Alice Springs. The terrain is rough, remote, very steep and subject to harsh weather conditions with little vehicle access and is ranked as a moderate to difficult (Grade 4 or Grade 5) hiking trail. This means that walkers should have a moderate to high level of fitness, should have bushwalking skills or be highly experienced with excellent navigation skills.

St John NT Alice Springs’ staff routinely attend incidents in remote areas that have difficult access. This raises a number of health and safety risks which were identified by staff and management. Such risks include injuries from prolonged hiking in difficult terrain, load bearing injuries from equipment carried and extrications, not having task specific equipment or safety gear, dehydration, exposure to extreme temperatures, movement at night, poor signage/pathways – getting lost, lack of skills or equipment to navigate, personal health and fitness, food, water and shelter, poor or no communication and also the need to maintain regular services to the community during these protracted cases.

In identifying these risks to staff and patients the need for remote area access trained paramedics was identified and the necessary training program was developed and implemented.