FIRST by CAA | Issue 3 December 2020

ISSUE 03 | DECEMBER 2020

CAA milestones Tony Smith

1 year on from the Whakaari/ White Island Disaster

2010-2020

Dreaming of a

SUSTAINABLE CHRISTMAS? www.caa.net.au

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Dear friends and colleagues, I have been checking in to a different kind of pandemic lately. There is a wonderful Facebook group called ‘the Kindness Pandemic’ that started as a response to COVID-19 at the start of the year, where people can share little acts of kindness that they witness or do every day.

I guess after the year we have had and COVID-19 relentlessly dragging on, keeping families separated (mine is stuck in Europe), ruining businesses, disrupting our plans, something like the posts on this Kindness Pandemic site are lovely to see, small acts that renew hope in humanity.

With Christmas merely weeks away, I know many of us will be looking forward to seeing friends and families, taking a break, yet we can’t forget that Christmas can be a very hard holiday for a lot of people for a variety of reasons and sadly this year with repercussions of the pandemic, the holidays might not be as bright.

We took an opportunity to talk about mental health in our December issue specifically for this reason.

We know our people work in very hard jobs and while they love what they do, we are painfully aware that the patients and events they are called to can affect their mental health and wellbeing.

Our cover star, Dr Tony Smith, Clinical Director of St John New Zealand speaks about the events of the Whakaari/White Island volcanic eruption, from not only an ambulance response but also about the effects the event has had on his mental health.

We look at the new post-COVID workplaces, with many great opportunities arising from having to work from home, technological advances and creating workplace flexibility, yet I have to say I miss seeing my CAA and wider ambulance industry colleagues and truly hope 2021 sees us meeting in person again soon.

We reflect on the year that was and we look towards 2021 and our plans, including the CAA2021 Congress which will be held in Sydney, 15-17 July.

From our team in Adelaide, Melbourne and Wellington we wish you a relaxing and joyful Christmas and may the New Year bring respite from COVID-19 and a year that will reunite families, reignite businesses and allow us to again enjoy the good things in life (like getting on a plane and complaining about flight delays) :D Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

Mojca xx

Contents ISSUE 03 | DECEMBER 2020

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38

52

03

32

06

Adele Saunders, Manager of Wellbeing and Psychological Services from St John New Zealand shares an important message on frontline workers coming into the Christmas period.

Letter from the Editor

Data First A walk through CAA milestones from 2010-2020

08

Industry First

Opinion First

38

Services First Showcasing the latest ground-breaking projects from across CAA member services.

Latest news from around the ambulance sector.

10

CAA First A final glance at the year that was as we begin to look towards 2021.

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Focus First Highlighting work in the ambulance industry on mental health and wellbeing.

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45

Awards First Featuring two of the 2019 category winners. Queensland Ambulance Service and Ambulance Victoria.

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Feature First Tony Smith, Clinical Director at St John New Zealand speaks with us about the Whakaari/White Island disaster 1 year on.

www.caa.net.au

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66

59

84

We share with you plans for 2021 Congress.

Dreaming of a sustainable Christmas.

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86

Meet our partners: The National Rural Health Alliance & AFAC.

Meet the wonderful people that make up the Australasian ambulance services.

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88

Events First

86

Sustainability

Partners First

People First

Research First

The Directory

Sharing the latest innovative research projects from around the ambulance world.

Australia’s Post-COVID workforce: Shaping the path to recovery It’s time to rethink indoor airflow to reduce the spread of COVID-19, say experts

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Wellness First Plateaus – how to get out of the stuck and into the un-stuck!

THE TEAM

PUBLISHED BY:

Editor: Mojca Bizjak-Mikic Relationship and Content Manager: Stephanie Hartley Graphic Design: Alpha State

The Council Of Ambulance Authorities 283 – 287 Sir Donald Bradman Drive Brooklyn Park SA 5032 Australia admin@caa.net.au

Magazine published from paper that is sustainably sourced.

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Data First

CAA Milestones 2010 2012

PEPAS Paramedic Education Programs Accreditation Scheme was set up which provided assessment and accreditation of university paramedic programs across Australia and New Zealand.

White Paper “When Something Goes Seriously Wrong’

2012 50 Years of CAA CAA celebrated 50 years since the inaugural meeting in 1962. Since then CAA has been integral in progressing the ambulance sector and providing ongoing exchange of knowledge among members.

2020 New Zealand Governor-General joins Restart a Heart Day This year we were excited to have the Hon Dame Patsy Reddy, NZ GovernorGeneral join the Restart a Heart Day cause.

2016 CAA/AFAC Emergency Management Response Handbook CAA collaborated with AFAC to produce a handbook for fire services co-responding to medical emergencies. The handbook was reviewed and updated in 2020.

2020 2020 Sustainability Strategy CAA will lead the sectors’ commitment to work towards more sustainable ambulance services providing the sector with guidance and support.

6

CAA produced a white paper on the future of ambulance services, looking at existing challenges, what the next ten years will look like and what opportunities the future might hold.

Women in Leadership Strategy After formally setting up a WIL working group their first task was to prepare a sector-wide strategy that will enforce and promote CAA members commitment to ensure a more gender-balanced workplace.

2019 Hand Hygiene Day campaign Together with the launch of the Infection Control Strategy 5th May forms an important day to reflect and renew the commitment of the sector to infection control and prevention.

www.caa.net.au

2016

2017

CAA signs up to 10step Cardiac Arrest program

Beyond Blue Answer the Call

Over 2017 and 2018 the CAA GRA working group was established. GRA Australasian Secretariat and the first masterclasses in highperformance CPR, Telephone CPR and others were held.

2017 Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy

CAA and our members were actively involved in Beyond Blue’s Answering the Call survey. It looked at the ways emergency services personnel addressed their wellbeing and mental health.

The strategy was set up to actively provide and strengthen the work in the mental health space and look to reduce the likelihood of psychological harm to our people due to workplace factors. The strategy was adopted

by CAA members and ambulance unions.

2017 Launch of Restart a Heart Day Australian and New Zealand services welcomed the Restart a Heart Day campaign which has since become an important part of raising awareness of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

2019 2017/18

Australian Governor General becomes patron of CAA In 2019 we were excited to have the Hon David Hurley, Governor General join CAA as patron of CAA and Restart a Heart Day.

TrackMi Pilot

2018 Australian Paramedic Registration

2018 Restart a Heart Day with PM Scott Morrison The start of 2018 Restart a Heart Day campaign was launched by the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

After many years of hard work, Australian Paramedics gained recognition as a registered health profession.

CAA worked together with member services on setting up the pilot for the TrackMi program that introduced a more advanced and streamlined tracking of patients in mass casualty and large emergency settings.

2017 Global Paramedic Leadership Alliance GPLA brought together a firm commitment between ambulance associations from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, USA and Canada to share best practice and research across a range of topics. The first years were focused on the metal health of EMS professionals.

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Industry First

Industry News SA Ambulance Service - 2020-2024 Disability Access and Inclusion Plan SA Ambulance Service has committed to ensuring South Australians living with disabilities have full and equitable access to health services, resources, information, and facilities in the public health system. The 2020-2024 Disability Access and Inclusion Plan was developed in consultation with employees and members of the community, identifying the principles and actions needed to address barriers and promote an equity-based approach to providing ambulance services. Its actions and targets have been guided by principles which will improve access to services for staff and community members with a disability.

View or download your copy here: http://www. saambulance.com.au/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=mEm_ faA_byM%3d&tabid=193

St John Ambulance PNG –First Aid In School Program St John Ambulance PNG have joined with the Sir Brian Bell Foundation to equip year nine students with basic first aid lifesaving skills and teaches students how to prevent illness and injury when emergency strikes.

This is the third year that St John has provided free first aid training to year nine students. Over the last 3 years around 5,000 students have benefited from the free training. This year’s program involved students from East New Britain Province and the National Capital District.

Supt. Zoe Saulep - First Aid in Schools Program Manager said “This program is about equipping students with essential first aid and health skills that they can apply in a low resource environment. The one day course teaches skills from assisting with child birth, identifying newborn emergencies, and managing wounds in the bush.”

“Child birthing isn’t usually taught at a basic level of first aid, but it is incredibly important for our students because maternal mortality is very high in PNG, with around 5% of women dying as a result of pregnancy each year – around 2,000 each year,” said Zoe. “The First Aid in Schools program is about teaching students sustainable, low resource basic first aid that is sciencebacked and evidence-informed”, said St John CEO Matt Cannon.

Wellington Free Ambulance celebrated their 93rd Birthday Wellington Free Ambulance celebrated their 93rd birthday! Mayor of the day Sir Charles Norwood founded Wellington Free in 1927 after finding a man on Lambton Quay, injured with no way to get to hospital and no ambulances to be found. That day Sir Charles decided this would not happen again; he believed in a place where emergencies needn’t cost lives or money and declared his city would have a free ambulance service for all. Almost a century later and Wellington Free still provides free services to the community. To honour and acknowledge their history, Sir Charles’ grandson Wayne, recently became Wellington Free’s new Patron.

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www.caa.net.au

St John WA - Multiagency Extraction Exercise St John WA participated in a multiagency extraction exercise with the Royal Australian Navy, Department of Fire and Emergency Services WA and several civilian agencies. This facilitated a great opportunity for St John WA to work closely with other agencies to explore specialised response management opportunities and simulate a response for an emergency onboard a submarine.

St John NT – Newest Cadet Division St John NT celebrated the establishment of Australia’s newest St John Cadet Division in October, the first of its kind in the NT for eight years. The launch of the Parap Cadet Division is part of St John NT’s expanding Youth Development Program through which youth members have the opportunity to develop competence, confidence, compassion, and a sense of community through proficiency badges, first aid services, and community engagement.

Russell Coight’s show ‘All Aussie Adventures’ saves the life of Geelong girl bitten by tiger snake A brave nine-year old Geelong girl has survived a tiger snake bite after learning what to do from a very unlikely source, Russell Coight. Grace, began to panic, but she soon remembered some wise words from her TV idol – Russell Coight. In Coight’s TV show he told viewers to stay still, calm, and call for help straight away if they were bitten by a snake. Thanks to the Belmont and Geelong Paramedics for looking after Grace.

NAIDOC Week NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. All around Australia paramedics and ambulance services participated in a range of activities. Queensland Ambulance Service got creative with their uniforms.

Dr Andy Swain of Wellington Free Ambulance receives Sir David Hay Medal Wellington Free Ambulance Medical Director, Dr Andy Swain has been recognised for his lifelong contribution to resuscitation and emergency care across Aotearoa.

The prestigious Sir David Hay Medal was presented to Dr Swain by the New Zealand Resuscitation Council – only the fourth time in 21 years that the medal has been awarded; a testament to the calibre of the award.

Andy’s involvement in the resuscitation and emergency care community, in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom, is outstanding and far deserving of this recognition.

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CAA First

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www.caa.net.au

And just like that the year is done.

Good, bad and ugly pretty much sums up 2020 and yet it gives us the chance to focus on planning for 2021 with the hope that next year will be better and that we might take the lessons from this year and progress next year.

By Mojca Bizjak-Mikic

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T

he end of the year at CAA is always marked with finalising projects and reporting. We will be sharing the CAA Women in Leadership 2020 Survey report, CAA Workforce Gender Collection Report and CAA Global Resuscitation Alliance 2019 Survey Report in December.

The Report on Government Services is all but completed from our end and we are waiting for the Australian Productivity Commission to release the report at the end of January 2021.

A big part of our December is spent planning our working group meetings for the new year and revising annual workplans, completed tasks and identifying the key topics we want to tackle next year. The CAA committees, forums and working groups have had a busy year managing the pandemic while at the same time looking to progress important work for the ambulance sector.

This year the CAA adopted the Women in Leadership, Infection Control and Sustainability Strategies and are at the moment working on the Patient Safety and Quality Strategy to be released by the end of the year. These strategies are an important piece of work that provides support and guidance to our members and the sector.

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2021 will see the return of the CAA Awards for Excellence - the awards platform is being opened for submission in December; in July we hope to see you in Sydney for the CAA Congress; and for the second year running we will honour the incredible women who work in ambulance with CAA Women in Ambulance recognitions – nominations are now open.

This year has definitely pushed us out of our comfort zones and saying this for an industry working in the emergency sector shows just how very unpredictable life can be.

The second part of the year marks Restart a Heart Day (16th October) and Mental Health & Wellbeing month (October), a chance for us to focus on how to look after our teams and the impact that working as paramedics have on their wellbeing.

This year has definitely pushed us out of our comfort zones and saying this for an industry working in the emergency sector shows just how very unpredictable life can be. The amount of work that went into revising emergency plans, looking sideways at avenues that just a year ago we wouldn’t even consider, shows our sector’s resilience and ability to learn and grow. I know next time we are faced with a similar situation or a surprising new event, we will be ready and even better prepared.

www.caa.net.au

Wo m e n i n Leadership S u r ve y We asked for your feedback and this is what you told us

St John PNG 1%

St John NT 4% St John WA 15%

SAAS 7%

Location of

Survey Respondents

QAS 12% NSWA 28%

ACTAS 5% St John NZ 6%

AV 13% AT 6%

WFA 3%

60+ <29 Years

3%

50-59

25+ Years 17%

20%

21-25 Years

8%

1-5 Years

6% 35%

16-20 Years 31% 29%

40-49

30-39

14%

19%

11-15 Years

19%

6-10 Years

Age

Years of Service

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What does

leadership mean to you?

Ability to unite people through understanding of diversity in terms of class, race, ethnicity and gender, toward a common goal.

Survey Respondent

Leadership is the actions through which we unite and inspire our teams to provide the best care, through the demonstration of pride, integrity, transparency and inclusivity.

Survey Respondent

We need to start removing barriers that prevent women who are capable of contributing to the organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leadership, from being recognised and for them to be able to recognise a clear pathway to advance forward into leadership roles.

Survey Respondent

Other Peer Coaching

9%

Education

37% 85%

Research

Male

41%

Networking

46%

58%

51%

Female

Mentoring

Learning and Professional Growth Avenues

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49%

Workforce Gender 2020

www.caa.net.au

What are

the biggest

challenges faced

when pursuing your career goals?

Having opportunities for promotion – 58% Dealing with unconscious (or conscious) bias – 43% Self-doubt – 36% Confidence – 36% Location of opportunity – 34% Minimal female role models – 29% Age – 28% Parental and or other carer responsibilities – 24% Qualifications – 18% Limited access to networks of women – 16% Other – 15% Emotional and or physical burden – 11% Limited access or expense of childcare – 11% Qualifications – 0%

Employment category

Female Management – Operational Managers Patient transport officers Executives Clinical Support / Infrastructure Support / Community Service Operatives Attrition Qualified ambulance officers / Students and base level ambulance officers Doctors / Nurses / Psycologists / Pharmicist Supervisors Volunteers & First responders Medical Officers/Medical Director Calltakers / Dispatchers / Other Marketing / Finance / Human Resource / Information Technology / Administration

Male

33% 36%

67% 64%

37%

63%

41%

59%

45%

55%

45%

55%

46% 48% 60% 62%

54% 52% 40% 38%

70%

30%

71%

29%

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CAA First

Collective knowledge guides Covid-19 response

By Tim Lawson, Solutions Manager, Trapeze Group

F

ollowing the success of the CAA-Trapeze ideas board at the CAA 2019 Congress, in 2020, the concept moved to a contactless, interactive online version to collect ideas about improving response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you were at the CAA19 Congress in Perth, you would have seen the CAA-Trapeze ideas board which displayed delegate ideas on how the industry can produce better patient outcomes by enabling a more connected patient journey. These ideas were also transformed into illustrations by an artist during the event.

In the context of a pandemic, knowing in real-time exactly what kinds of PPE are available as well as their stock levels is crucial. Having asset management technology in place can help manage this effectively, which in turn enables health and safety measures for both emergency services staff and patients.

As the extent of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent, some of the ideas that had been shared at CAA19 turned out to have practical applications for responders. For example, the ability to source more detailed patient information within a mobile application.

The future had arrived more quickly than anyone had ever anticipated.

Prof Ng Yih Yhg, Consultant and Emergency Physician at TTSH and Central Health Singapore described how the pandemic has fast-tracked technology developments that streamline emergency response and simplify complex tasks.

The responses posted to the 2019 ideas board proved that there is a vast collective knowledge amongst emergency services professionals, from operations to clinical staff, administration, and management. This led to Trapeze and the CAA revisiting the ideas board in 2020, enabling the ambulance industry to come together and share their insights on how to optimise the emergency response to COVID-19.

Many of the major themes submitted this year were pertinent to the COVID-19 response, and included real-time information and communications, paramedic safety and well-being, and effective applications of new technology such as applications and AI. During a webinar held in August, hosted by David Waters, Council of Ambulance Authorities CEO, guest speakers discussed and analysed the ideas raised.

Speakers included industry experts from Ambulance Victoria, NSW Ambulance, Tang Tok Seng Hospital (TTSH)/Central Health Singapore, and Trapeze Group.

Associate Professor Mick Stephenson ASM, Executive Director of Clinical Operations at Ambulance Victoria pointed out that “you can never be too well-prepared, particularly in terms of your PPE cache”. Early in the pandemic, higher prices offered by overseas buyers to Australian PPE manufacturers saw local supplies suddenly rerouted offshore. “A lot of services have discovered that a traditional supply level of PPE doesn’t service what you need in a pandemic situation,” said Mick.

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This includes a ‘Big Data’ analytics platform, that was built in just two months by the Singapore Government to automate the search for associations and relations between COVID-19 patients and potential contacts.

Although the technology is useful in identifying contacts, it can’t replace human intelligence yet. “Once associations have been found, the contact tracers still have to call people, speak to them and understand whether the association is real or just transient and not significant,” said Yih Yhg. James Wetherall, Managing Director of Emergency Services at Trapeze Group, discussed developments in technology-driven communications – for example, how real-time digital dashboards monitor vehicles and provide alerts to paramedics when an ambulance enters a COVID-19 hot spot. James also explored how social media platforms should integrate into the overall communications plan. One of the ideas put forward was about using online tutorials to demonstrate the correct donning and doffing of PPE. Mick Stephenson said AI is currently being tested using an iPad camera to tell users whether they are removing PPE correctly and safely.

As the ambulance sector continues to adapt to the multiple challenges of COVID-19, the opportunity for new technology and creative ideas – like those submitted to the ideas board – is more relevant than ever.

Trapeze remains dedicated to working alongside emergency response professionals in Australia and New Zealand to identify collaborative solutions that will take the industry into a more efficient future. www.caa.net.au

CAA First

A

s part of the CAA x Trapeze Interactive Ideas Board, two winners will receive passes to the CAA2021 Congress for their idea submissions. The winners were Lynden Ferguson of Ambulance Tasmania and Byron Williams of St John New Zealand. We asked them to expand on their ideas for us, you can read these below.

According to the Dictionary, an invention is something that has never been made or used before whereas an innovation is an improvement or alteration to an existing idea. With the advent of Coronavirus, health services across the world faced new and old problems that innovative digital solutions can assist in, namely bed allocation and the delivery of critical medical equipment.

It is important to highlight that many sectors incorrectly refer to their digital solutions as â&#x20AC;&#x153;digital platformsâ&#x20AC;?, when really they are stand-alone software programs that are often resistant to integration.

A true digital platform integrates, links or accommodates software programs, allowing the tools to grow and be adapted as an organisation changes. The challenge for hospitals and ambulance services alike is collaboratively pursuing a platform, where integration of software is possible in managing patient flow, visibility of resources and bed allocation in the pandemic environment.

The following are the key points that was submitted to the CAA Trapeze Ideas board that desires to benefit future ambulance service technologies. Many thanks to CAA and Trapeze for this opportunity and I thank them for their contribution to our industry.

A digital pandemic health services platform that maps a state or territoryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s available hospital beds and essential medical equipment to support decision makers in the coordination of care. Beds from all health facilities would be classified according to the available level of care, the facilities capacity and if assigned as COVID or NON-COVID patients.

Key features for the platform 1. Hospital and facility bed tracking across a region and/or states, that can be populated, filtered and sorted e.g. Emergency departments, intensive care units, metropolitan, and regional health facilities.

2. Identification of health sites and individual wards that could be assigned as COVID and NON COVID in a pandemic working environment to assist incoordination and managing extreme demand.

3. A shared and common operating platform for use across all Emergency Operational Centres, hospitals and ambulance communication centres.

4. Secure cloud access for real-time updates and visibility.

5. At each bed location, a function to highlight and track what key pieces of medical equipment such as ventilators, defibrillators and advanced clinical care services are supported bedside.

6. Tracking of inventory medical equipment to support care and medical supplies to enable deployment across regions, states and territories.

7. Ability to create algorithms and future demand projections for decision makers. Metric triggers could include the use of AUSMAT, the military, volunteer organisations and when interstate support is required. The projections could also be utilised in a training and simulation environment.

8. Hosts interagency arrangements for the sharing of beds and equipment between the states and hospitals.

9. Track all mobile medical units and emergency management cache units that carry advanced care equipment such as ECMO, HEMS, Fixed wing, ICP and Retrieval services. This is to support a regions emergency management activity, whether it is a deployment to a nursing home, tent city, makeshift ward or rural hospital.

10. Ability to assign and confirm completed action items to approved users on the platform.

11. Use in the non-pandemic environment to meet and monitor hospital demand Please note that these are the personal views of the writer.

Lynden Ferguson Manager, Ambulance Tasmania Lynden led the Northern Region in the COVID Emergency (first wave). Commenced in Northern Territory for St John Ambulance in 2000 and has served in Ambulance Tasmania since 2002.

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www.caa.net.au

‘Have a sector of specially trained ambulance officers working on a clinical desk specially assigned to managing vulnerable patients. This would allow operations crews to both call in for advice and also refer patients to the trained officer who can refer the patient onto appropriate end agencies e.g. elder abuse organisations, oranga tamariki (child youth and family), social workers, police family harm teams or specialist COVID response agencies.’

- Interactive Ideas Board Submission.

It is well known that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused global disruption, and with this, an increase in family harm and domestic violence. The New Zealand Police have commented in media statements that family harm and domestic violence callouts had an alarmingly high increase when New Zealand went into level 4 lockdown. Over the lockdown and in the months following, St John New Zealand has also noted an increase in vulnerable persons referrals made by operational staff.

Despite the increase in reporting through police and ambulance, it was noted that reports of concern to Oranga Tamariki (formerly known as Child Youth and Family) decreased in the same time period.

Suggestions have been made that this is because at risk children are in lockdown, and therefore not around members of society, such as school teachers or childcare providers who would normally recognize when a child is at risk of harm or vulnerability.

This decrease in visibility is not isolated to children, but also extends to the elderly. Many healthcare services that would normally assist elderly in their own homes, suspended or reduced the in-home support they normally provide. This resulted in some elderly not being able to access social support, care and essential services that they normally require, with some being left without food and basic care they require for activities of daily living.

These are only a few of the social challenges that have been noted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Throughout COVID-19, paramedics have continued to attend calls in people’s homes in the community.

Paramedics are in a unique position where they are still invited into people’s home environments, to both assess and treat a patient in their time of need, regardless of the presence of COVID-19. Fortunately, this invitation into people’s homes allows Paramedics the ability to obtain key information that may identify signs of abuse, neglect, or at-risk environments.

Furthermore, paramedics are often the only healthcare workers that assess patients who refuse further care or are not transported to a medical or other facility for further care. In a lockdown environment, isolation is increased, and so too is the privilege of being invited into people’s homes. However, with that privilege, comes an ethical and legal responsibility of being able to provide assistance when vulnerability or harm is identified.

In normal day to day clinical practice, social presentations to ambulance clinicians – particularly those where people are vulnerable or at risk of harm - can be complex and challenging to manage.

When this is combined with the complexities of lockdown, it could be suggested that these challenges are amplified.

With this came the idea of ambulance crews having a specialised person available to contact and discuss concerning cases on a vulnerable person’s clinical desk.

The clinical desk assigned to managing vulnerable patients would give ambulance crews the ability to call for specialised social advice on managing vulnerable patients, as well as providing a referral mechanism for ambulance crews to refer patients to appropriate agencies such as elder abuse organisations, Oranga Tamariki, social workers, Police family harm teams or specialized COVID-19 response agencies. In addition, the vulnerable person’s clinical desk would have the ability to keep up-to-date on the response capabilities of external agencies to make sure patients will be supported in an appropriate manner throughout lockdown restrictions.

It is thought that by providing a single point of call for clinicians to discuss cases of vulnerability in the community, there will be an increase in referrals, and more people who are at risk of vulnerability and family harm in the community will receive help before harm occurs.

Byron Williams Clinical Support Officer, St John New Zealand Byron has worked in the ambulance sector since 2008 and has a passion for education and ongoing improvement of clinical skills, including communication, crew resource management and holistic ethical management of high-risk vulnerable patients. He sits on the national vulnerable persons review group for St John and has led a range of projects for ambulance clinicians, which integrate high quality holistic teaching into everyday practice.

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Focus First

Mental He a lt h & We l l b e i n g Since 2015 mental health and wellbeing has become a very prominent topic across many sectors including the ambulance world. We have seen an increase in investment and focus on the issues which have in turn provided great development and knowledge sharing.

The CAA Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy was developed and adopted by all CAA members as well as the ambulance unions across Australia and New Zealand. This shows how important this topic is for the ambulance sector.

We know that many of our members have longstanding programs designed to look after staff wellbeing, some dating back over three decades, however, the strategy works on pushing this work and programs to the forefront.

The job our people are doing on a daily basis is hard, demanding and mentally draining, between balancing the job, private and family obligations.

Ensuring our people’s mental health and wellbeing is essential for a happy and healthy workforce.

Four years ago, CAA set up a Mental Health & Wellbeing working group that meets twice per year to share knowledge, exchange ideas and progress work towards the strategy. CAA member services nominate representatives from their employees’ support/wellbeing units who bring invaluable contributions to the work of the group.

The CAA Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy was created to pro-actively provide and strengthen

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effective leadership across CAA members to significantly reduce the likelihood of psychological harm to staff due to workplace factors.

The Strategy looks to promote positive mental health culture, reduce stigma, improve the literacy of the workforce, develop the capacity of our people to interact and help, ensure an integrated approach, implement best practices, seek internal and external expertise, collaborate, set up early notification systems and collect and monitor data to be able to evaluate the mental health and wellbeing of our people.

CAA continues to work with and collaborate with our services as well as external parties such as Beyond Blue and their ‘Answering the Call’ program and has been vocal in sharing our programs and the strategy with our international friends. Since adopting the strategy our UK and Canadian friends have adopted it for their members.

Earlier this year we ran a survey among the services to track the progress against the strategy objectives and will be looking to have the report and case studies rolled out to services for their use in the new year.

www.caa.net.au

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Focus First

It was recognised there were inherent risks associated with the frontline roles.

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www.caa.net.au

QAS â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Priority One Staff Support Program

T

he Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Priority One Staff Support Program is a highly utilised, evidence based, multi-layered staff support program that has won multiple awards with components of the program recognised and replicated across various organisations nationally and internationally.

Whilst it is now a well-established and embedded program it started from much smaller beginnings and has evolved over time to where it is now.

In 1991 the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) was formed, combining 96 separate Queensland Ambulance Transport Brigades. One priority need identified at that time for QASâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future success was to better care for the psychological wellbeing of the frontline employees. It was recognised there were inherent risks associated with the frontline roles and promoting mental wellbeing, preventing injuries wherever possible and supporting recovery was paramount.

After a national scan of support services for frontline ambulance and fire personnel, including a program already in place by Victorian Ambulance Service, plus advice and available research from key experts, the Priority One, Staff Support Program was developed.

Over the next 28 years the program has continued to evolve to meet the ever-changing needs of the organisation and society more generally.

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Focus First

T

he Priority One Program has been designed to take a wholistic salutogenic approach to supporting staff and their families.

To this end, there is significant focus on the provision of proactive mechanisms to support wellbeing, resilience and Post Traumatic Growth (PTG).

Much focus is often placed on pathology with first responders, and while there needs to be effective evidence based treatments following psychological illness or injury, research has shown that with the right supports and mechanisms in place, prior, during and following potential critical incidents, most first responders will be resilient and are likely to experience PTG. To enhance wellbeing, the Priority One Program provides a significant focus on strategies that maintain and promote wellbeing and that may assist in preventing psychological illness or injury in the first instance.

Components of the QAS Priority One Staff Program include but are not limited to the following:

Peer Support Since its first course in 1993, Peer Support continues to be an integral and highly utilised and valued part of the Priority One Program. Peer Supporters are staff who are selected and trained and volunteer to provide support to their colleagues for any issues.

In order to become a Peer Support Officer, staff must undertake a five-stage selection and development process. The initial peer support course comprises of a six-day training course, which includes components of psychological first aid, stress, loss and grief, critical incident stress and communication skills. In addition, this course is designed to embed reflective practices in their lives and their interactions with others so that they may be intentional about how they support others and look after themselves.

Following the initial training course, peer supporters are required to undertake mandatory psychological supervision by a Priority One mental health professional and undertake refresher training every two to three years. This provides QAS with the opportunity to ensure peer supporters have the required knowledge, understanding and approaches to support others, maintain their own mental health and wellbeing, and are provided with the most up to date research and information available.

Over the course of 27 years there have been around 800 staff trained as Peer Support Officers. Currently, the Program has approx. 250 active peer supporters comprising Paramedics, Emergency Medical Despatchers and corporate staff, ready to support colleagues throughout the organisation.

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Volunteer Peer Support Coordinators are drawn from this network and provided with additional training to look after the resources within their work area â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ensuring a roster of peer supporters is available, as well as linkages to the peer support supervisor, area manager and to the Priority One unit.

In the year 2000 the peer support program was expanded to include LGBTIQ+ peer support and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peer support.

Members of these groups are peer support officers who identify in one or both groups and who receive additional annual training and support.

Counselling In addition to Peer Support, the program has a statewide network of approx. 110 external counsellors.

These counsellors are in private practice and are selected individually based on their skill sets as well as their ability to build strong relationships within the QAS organisational setting. QAS employees, and their family members, can access this network in a way that maintains confidentiality and independence from QAS.

Chaplaincy In April 2001 the QAS introduced a Chaplaincy Service as part of the Priority One Program. The QAS Senior Chaplain, a core member of the Priority One management team, is a Paramedic of more than 30 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience as well as an Ordained Minister. His role is responsible for the evaluations, provision and expansion of pastoral and spiritual services to meet the needs of staff and their families across the state.

Psychological Education and Awareness Priority One has implemented a multi-layered educational package that has been designed to promote mental health and wellbeing amongst frontline ambulance personnel and minimise the risk of psychological injury, trauma and suicide.

This education is implemented throughout the working lifespan of the employee to ensure consistent and ongoing messages around psychological wellbeing, strategies to promote resilience and PTG and reduce mental health stigma and barriers to accessing support.

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Education begins pre-employment with Resilience and Readiness training and is provided to University students prior to their undertaking their first QAS placement. This initial opportunity for education ensures that mental health wellbeing is recognised as a priority early and that there are early consistent messages of the importance of adaptive coping strategies and self-care. This assists in reducing mental health stigma and reducing barriers to support through normalisation and salutogenic based education.

Once employed by QAS All new frontline employees then undertake a resilience training program Finding the Silver Lining. This program, designed to promote wellbeing and identify ways to enhance resilience and promote PTG, includes a 4.5-hour face to face interactive session; a workbook and reflective journal; and a confidential appointment with an external Priority One counsellor where the workbook and reflective journal are confidentially reviewed and discussed. The aim of this program is to support the employee to identify early changes to their personal circumstances that may impact on them; identify healthy and unhealthy coping strategies and break down barriers to accessing support when they need to.

This education program is strongly aimed at maintaining wellbeing and promoting active help seeking.

Equipping managers and supervisors with the information and resources to support their staff and look after themselves is another key education area for Priority One. QAS managers and supervisors are provided with leadership development training to assist them to support their staff in line with contemporary leadership styles through the Classified Officers Development Program (CODP). In addition to this leadership training Managers and Supervisors are also required to undertake Trauma and Resilience in the Workplace Training. This package designed and delivered annually by Priority One is designed to provide managers and supervisors with an understanding of the psychological components of trauma, the importance of their role in potential critical incident management, and what components to look out for when supporting their staff and each other.

Additionally, there are a range of other psychological education programs, brochures and materials provided across the workforce designed to promote resilience and maintain wellbeing.

Continual Evaluation One of the aspects that has ensured that Priority One has continued to meet the needs of QAS staff and their families is that it has been committed to continuously evaluating the services that it provides. This has been undertaken through numerous research collaborations, program evaluations and staff consultation.

In 2018, after considerable consultation, the QAS released a Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

This strategy was operationalised through a Mental Health Taskforce consisting of a collaboration between operational staff, senior executives and the Union.

It was identified through this collaboration and broader staff consultation at a subsequent mental health staff forum that staff were highly invested in wanting greater access to resources and education to maintain their wellbeing. In order to meet this demand, the Queensland Government and QAS committed to a significant enhancement of internal resources to the Priority One Program which have been rolled out over the past twelve months. These enhancements have seen full-time internal regional Priority One counsellors rolled out across the state, providing greater access to localised support, referral and education across Queensland.

The new enhanced structure is supported by a management team of mental health professionals consisting of a Director of Staff Support Services who is a registered psychotherapist and a paramedic; a Manager of Clinical Services to ensure a coordinated, consistent and collaborative evidence based clinical service delivery; a Manager of Peer Support to provide a greater level of support, development and consistency for the Peer Support Officers and a Manager of Psychological Education to ensure consistent evidence informed/based education delivery across the state and across the different life and career transitions of QAS employees; and a Manager of Spiritual Services (Senior Chaplain). This structure ensures a collaborative and consistent evidence-based approach between internal and external psychological supports, the organisation and the staff and their families to ensure that people receive the most appropriate and timely support and psychological care for their individual needs.

There is no doubt that this program will continue to change and evolve as new research and evidence emerges and to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of QAS staff and their families.

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Focus First

O

ver the past two years, the CAA’s Mental Health and Wellbeing working group has been working towards a shared CAA app that will provide the members and their people with a tool to track daily their wellbeing as well as link them up with their services and external resources, like a one-stop-shop of wellness.

After much research and comparing notes we have landed on a great product from New Zealand that ticks all our boxes and is, as we speak, being rolled out and prepped for a number of our services. While we understand not everyone is jumping on board with the CAA app, and many services have tools similar to this in place, we are excited that Chnnl will be able to provide a simple, easy to use tool to help look after our peoples’ mental health and wellbeing.

A very big thank you goes to two companies who have generously supported the CAA app by providing financial support. SDSI and Skills thank you for your support for this important cause.

We spoke with Dr Elizabeth Berryman, CEO and Founder, about her pathway to creating Chnnl.

F. You have a very personal story that lead you down the track to creating chnnl, the mental health app. Can you share how this has shaped your career?

I started nursing school when I was just 17 years old, at 20 I was a Registered Nurse in a busy urban Emergency Department, and at 21 I worked in the Outback of Australia, WA, in a rural nursing post. On my return I worked in Maori healthcare and completed my studies to be a Nurse Practitioner. I then followed my dream to become a doctor and applied five times before finally being accepted into Otago University Medical School. Medical School was a lot harder than I had expected. I’m not the smartest person in the world so I had to work extremely hard to remember the sheer volume of information and complex concepts. A lot of the other students had just learnt it at high school so it was fresh for them – but for me I hadn’t done chemistry or physics since I was 16!

Despite this, I absolutely loved it and was one of those annoying mature students asking all the questions – for me every concept I learned could be applied to a patient scenario and it all became very real and exciting.

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So when we were finally let out of the three years of lecture theatres and cadaver labs into the hospital based training modules I was bursting to get onto the wards. Being a nurse I thought would finally help me; however, it wasn’t the experience I had hoped for. In fact, it was the very opposite experience. You see, the very first placement I had was on a general surgical ward with a very toxic workplace environment. One that felt like you had turned back the clock 50 years and the nurses were still ‘handmaidens’ to the doctors and the hierarchy was entrenched.

There was one senior surgeon who decided he had it in for me. There was nothing I could do or say that was right. He would yell at me when I got the answer wrong to his impossible questions, he berated me in front of other staff and students about every little detail, and when I didn’t know the answer he would tell me to ‘go study in the library’. He would comment on what I wore and that ‘those glasses are much too big for your face’.

In theatre, if his instruments were not to his liking he would throw them across the theatre, including scissors and scalpels! After just six weeks of being on the ward, it started to take a toll on my mental health.

I started not sleeping, eating, would work around the clock to be good enough for him and limited socialising by withdrawing from my friends. It became so bad that I was having full on panic attacks even just thinking about having to go into the hospital. It was after one of these panic attacks, that the spiral continued and I thought, ‘I’m just not good enough to be a doctor, I quit’, I also had some other dark thoughts that I had never had before, which scared me. So I went to the dean of the medical school and said ‘That’s it!

I quit!’, to which he replied, ‘No you can’t quit, you need to be more resilient; he is a known bully, you just have to get through this.’

This was when I realised that I was indeed being bullied and a switch went off in me, that actually made me even more sad. Who else had he done this to? Why was he allowed to get away with it?

Why was it my problem to be more resilient when the medical school knew what his bad behaviour was doing to their students?

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Who else had he done this to?

Why was he allowed to get away with it?

Why was it my problem to be more resilient?â&#x20AC;?

Dr Elizabeth Berryman, Chnnl founder & CEO

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Focus First

F. What were the key learnings, take away moments from your experience and also from talking to other medical staff, and what is the goal for the future, what would you like to change?

Key learnings – Step 1 – get help yourself. I had to go through two counsellors before finding a counsellor I clicked with. It was hard to advocate for myself to get a different counsellor as they were being provided free through student health at the Uni, but I needed to find someone I could trust and who could relate to my situation.

Step 2 – Do something about it. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Your experience can help others and by doing something you not only help yourself, but help others as well.

Join the peer support network, raise awareness by sharing your story, or take the time to check in with a colleague. Or, like me, do research and try find innovative new solutions to solve these issues. It is going to take everyone doing their part to be able to solve this embedded issue in our organisation’s cultures.

Our vision is to truly understand mental wellbeing and through understanding make meaningful and sustainable changes to ensure psychological safety for everyone.

F. You have been very active in getting mental health out into the public and media, why is this so important to you and what have you been doing in this space?

Back in 2014, the #metoo movement wasn’t the social movement that it is today. #Blacklivesmatter wasn’t either. When I started talking about my experiences of mental health, I was one of the first to do so. It caused quite a stir! In fact, I received emails, phone calls and Facebook messages asking me to stop “bringing our profession into disrepute” and “who do you

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think you are?”, you need to “toughen up and get over it”. This just spurred me on even more, as it was these very sentiments in our profession that were enabling bad behaviour and toxic workplace environments.

In one instance, the other medical school in the country summoned me to the Dean’s office and demanded that we stop our advocacy programme.

I said I would only stop if the University stopped placing students into clinical placements that had known toxic and bullying environments, placing students’ pscyholigcal safety and wellbeing as a priority. The advocacy programme worked and after another week of media attention, the Medical School made a public commitment to not send students’ into placements that had had complaints in the past.

It is so important to me because in my final year of medical school, two of the brightest most loved students, ended their lives through suicide.

That year, 20 young doctors’ lives were lost across Australasia. It was at one of the student’s funerals, watching the faces of the distraught family, that I knew we had to address the issues in our workplaces through radical change. I’m not going to stop until everyone feels psychologically safe at work.

F. chnnl has now launched across New Zealand and slowly heading into Australia. Was this always the plan, are you surprised by the uptake and interest?

No it wasn’t the plan at all – I was doing research and getting some great results from users of the App. I had applied for a large research grant to do another two years of research and sadly we didn’t get the grant. So I thought that was going to be it, I’d move onto something else. But the passion didn’t go away and I was drawn back to solving this issue time and time again.

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I presented the findings from the research at the Royal College of Surgeons symposium, and it won the Best Education Prize! As a result, it went out in the RACS newsletter to all surgeons in Australasia! I was inundated with requests for hospitals to use the App. I was being induced for labour with our first child and I said to my husband, “I’ve got a year of maternity leave, shall we give this a go as a commercial App?”. We agreed, and it’s been a long journey! COVID just accelerated our growth and Australia was something we were looking at in the future, but we had huge inquiries during lockdown and now we are in India, Germany, USA and Australia.

F. You have a background in the medical sector, and chnnl was originally very much designed for hospitals, emergency departments etc. yet you have many clients from across a number of other industries that are seeing the value of chnnl.

F. You are one very busy lady, between holding a couple medical degrees, 2 kids, including a newborn, chnnl and everything else, how do you manage and how do you look after your mental health?

By doing the basics and doing the basics well.

1. Sleep – make sure you get as much as you can – with a newborn that means power naps wherever possible – years of shiftwork has actually been the best preparation for parenting!

2. Eat and Exercise - Eating properly and exercising (pram walking) most days 3. Space – get into nature, mindfulness, gratitude, prayer, meditation. When things feel like they are piling up, I’ll try go for a walk-in nature, breathe in the green space or the ocean breeze in my nostrils. Deep breaths.

No technology. Just being present.

Yes we are ‘caring for the carers’ and healthcare is still very much the industry in which we want to make the most impact in, being the collective voice of the people.

But heathcare isn’t alone with some of these workplace issues and several boards and CE0’s have asked if it can be applied outside of healthcare. We had to change a few things, for example, when prompting users with their daily check-in questions, ‘my patient became unwell, or died’ was not applicable, but mostly the App works perfectly well to support employees in other industries as well.

We now work with a range of clients, from NZX listed Tourism holdings ltd, to Z Energy and universities such as AUT for both staff and students.

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Opinion First

Christmas on the frontline

By Adele Saunders

Christmas, ‘tis the season to be jolly’ right… Sadly, this is not always the case and given the year the world has experienced in 2020, the Christmas lights might not shine so bright for many people this year.

Christmas usually offers for many an opportunity to have a break, be with family/whanau and celebrate the year that was. With international travel on hold, finances constrained and a year that people would rather forget than celebrate, this Christmas is going to look and feel a little different for many.

Being on the frontline as an ambulance officer is a tough job at the best of times. Shift work can lead to sleep deprivation, constant exposure to human pain and suffering, anger and sometimes violence from patients and the families/whanau alongside trying to navigate an often under resourced health system. Thankfully the magic of being able to save a life, having the comical conversation in the back of an ambulance with a witty patient or just helping someone in their time of need, all counter the adverse impacts of some of these challenges (otherwise why would our people keep doing it?).

From the perspective of our frontline, who are out there day in and day out, 24/7 every day of the year, Christmas time can result in some added stress during the “festive season”. We see an increase in holiday related accidents and injuries, including motor vehicle accidents (many including children), water related accidents (including drownings) and intoxicated patients or the public who can become aggressive or violent.

The resulting humanistic impact of these jobs does not evade our ambulance officers. They often have family and friends that represent the demographic of their patients and can easily align themselves with the panic, stress, horror, grief and loss of their patient’s family and friends.

The impact of this feels even greater at Christmas time when the emphasis is on family and being together.

Adele Saunders Manager of Wellbeing and Psychological Services Adele Saunders is a Registered Psychologist working for St John NZ developing wellbeing provision that aligns with current best practice for an emergency service. She has over 16 years’ experience working with individuals and families supporting them to find more meaningful life often following adversity and trauma. Adele has developed a keen interest in ‘caring for the carers’ and developing organisations and staff to engage in fulfilling work while maintaining optimal wellbeing.

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www.caa.net.au

While many ambulance officers would report that mental health related call outs, suicide attempts and completed suicides increase at this time of the year, evidence does not necessarily support this. It is likely that the emotional reality of such jobs, particularly suicide, weighs more heavily at this time of the year on those at the frontline, potentially making it feel like it is more common than usual.

To add to the demands of the festive season for frontline personnel, this period sometimes requires them to miss out on many family and festive occasions as they busily provide comfort and care for those who are sick and injured. This includes missing out on school prize giving’s, BBQs, trips to the beach, camping trips, Christmas parties and New Year celebrations.

As I understand it, there are some gems that make working on the frontline at Christmas time a little more special. Meals together as a team, sometimes with other first response organisations (brothers and sisters from the frontline) to celebrate the season, a bit of tinsel in the ambulance and maybe even a Santa hat or two to increase the festive spirit. I have also heard that finding the funny side of some of their “typical” calls outs over this period add a bit of lightness and fun. A particular favourite apparently is an all too frequent scenario of a parent having not quite mastered the children’s new Christmas gift of a skateboard or scooter and coming adrift, resulting in a call to the emergency services!

The resulting humanistic impact of these jobs does not evade our ambulance officers. They often have family and friends that represent the demographic of their patients and can easily align themselves with the panic, stress, horror, grief and loss of their patient’s family and friends.

Adele Saunders, Registered Psychologist, St John NZ

All in all, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for our frontline ambulance officers around Christmas. We know that ambulance staff are innately resilient and if they have been in the job a little while they have built up skills and an ability to manage the emotional load of the job. Christmas time definitely adds an extra challenge and we hope that they prioritise their own wellbeing, including seeking support both formal and informal, to make sure they can continue in the job they love while remaining well.

If you are an ambulance officer working this Christmas, I hope the funny stories, comradery and the festive spirit outweigh the harsher realities of working on the frontline this time of the year. If you do not work in ambulance, think of these folks out there every hour of every day and maybe even give them a bit of gratitude if you pass them on the street.

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This year I have decided to keep my expectations around Christmas ‘real and achievable’. What I truly desire Christmas to be will not happen due to circumstances. I can make my Christmas the best possible with what I have available to me.”

Doolhof, Online Forum Community Champion

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www.caa.net.au

Coping with Christmas Originally published by Beyond Blue

F

or many people, the festive season is an exciting time to connect with others and celebrate. But for others, it can be the most stressful time of the year.

For many people, the festive season is a jolly time to connect with others and celebrate the year. But financial issues, family conflict and loneliness can increase stress for people with anxiety or depression in the lead up to Christmas and the new year.

Here are some festive management strategies to help you deal with the holiday season – as well as experiences and advice from community members in our online forums.

Plan ahead As the end of the year fast approaches, it’s OK to feel overwhelmed or a little burnt out. So be kind to yourself when you’re planning what you will do. Christmas can be a difficult day, but it’s what you make it.

If you’re going to spend Christmas alone – or with a pet – take your mind off things by making sure you allow plenty of time for the things you enjoy.

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Change your expectations Being invited to social events and the pressure of living up to expectations can increase stress for people with a mental health condition. Some people also might start putting too much pressure on themselves about what they should buy or do for others. Others might dread catching up with family because it may end in conflict.

You have a choice in how you spend your holiday season. It may be that you simply need to change your expectations for the day; change Christmas to meet your needs and spend time with people who are supportive. It’s OK to say no to things or ignore it completely – or just the bits that you don’t enjoy. It doesn’t have to include a massive to-do list and be crammed with things you do out of obligation or tradition.

Manage conflict

Plan a group activity – such as backyard cricket – to keep people distracted Try to avoid the silly season getting really silly; reduce the amount of alcohol that could contribute to arguments.

Tips and advice for resolving family conflict.

Volunteering is a great way to boost self-esteem and support people who may be going through a difficult time – or if you don’t want to be on your own. You could serve a meal at a community centre, take gifts to a children’s hospital, visit people at a nursing home or if you’re a Christian, attend a church service. Some councils may also offer a community Christmas party you can join.

So I changed perspective. I told my family spoil away ... But not with toys. Give them your time. Buy a paddling pool? OK now swim with them. Buy a book and read it to them.

Don’t buy craft unless you’re going to get dirty and create.”

Quercus,

Christmas can be stressful Community Champion if there’s tension between your family or friends or an unrealistic expectation to just ‘put on a smile’. If you find yourself Be financially festive in an uncomfortable situation, try to be as understanding as you can of The gifts, food and expectations other people’s situations; most people can all start to add up. If you’re not are under stress to some degree too. able to spend money comfortably, Some other suggestions: don’t – this will only add to stress in Break up celebrations; catch up with one group of relatives on Christmas Eve and the other on Christmas Day if possible

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Give back

There are also other ways to give a gift that keeps on giving; donate to a charity, collect old nick nacks, books or clothes and give them to an op shop or start a conversation with a stranger or neighbour – it could be just the thing you both need to get in the holiday spirit.

“A couple of years ago I did help out with the Christmas lunch our Church puts on for people in the community who have nowhere to go for Christmas … After we served the people, we ate with them at the tables … So it was not just a case of ‘providing’ the food, but providing friendship and welcoming as well.” – Doolhof, Community Champion

the new year. Instead do something meaningful for others and give gifts such as a handpicked care package, a babysitting voucher or offer to help with the huge pile of dishes after Christmas lunch.

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Reflect and set goals

Stay in the present

Get support

You can choose to forget the year altogether or take the opportunity to look back on your journey and celebrate your achievements – regardless how small they may seem.

Being mindful can be an effective way to cope with holiday stress.

If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, try to bring yourself back to where you are, slow your breathing down or try a progressive muscle relaxation exercise. Incorporating breathing and relaxation exercises, practising mindfulness or yoga are great coping strategies to manage emotions that may get stirred up around this time of year. Most of these activities you can do almost anywhere and for little or no cost; if you download them ahead of Christmas, or download the Smiling Mind app, they’re right there in your pocket for when you need to find a sense of peace and calm among the chaos.

If you’re feeling alone or lonely, it’s important to reach out and talk to someone. Sometimes it’s difficult to talk about what’s going on but it could be as simple as sending a text, a message on social media, inviting someone over for a cuppa or making a phone call. If you’re supporting someone who has anxiety or depression these holidays it’s important to look after yourself too.

As you plan for the year ahead, try to come up with positive and achievable goals that contribute to making you feel positive, healthy and fulfilled – and give you a great sense of achievement. It’s easy to make New Year’s resolutions – but sticking to them is the difficult part. A good place to start is to jot down all the positive things you experienced and activities that made you feel good over the year.

Focus on the things that build your confidence and bring you one step closer towards better mental health.

Staying well is about finding a balance that works for you.

Occasions like Christmas can also bring up feelings of sadness and grief for people who have lost someone special. If you feel you can, talk about your loved one, share memories – and tears. You may also like to spend some time alone so you can think about your loved one. It’s also OK to enjoy yourself, don’t feel guilty, it doesn’t mean you don’t miss them.

“I like to light a candle for loved ones who cannot be with us for Christmas for one reason or another. The glow of the candles is comforting to me and help provide a sense of peace and happiness.” – Doolhof, Community Champion The mental health professionals at our Support Service are available over the holiday period 24/7 on 1300 22 4636, online chat (3pm12am AEDT) or email responses (within 24 hours). There are also other services to contact for support over this time if you need someone to talk to.

If you’re looking for virtual companionship, our Beyond Blue forums are available to seek support or information, join conversations, and share holiday coping strategies.

This article was originally published by Beyond Blue www.beyondblue.org.au/personal-best/pillar/supporting-yourself/coping-with-christmas

Services First

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www.caa.net.au

Wairarapa Pop-Up summary From Wellington Free Ambulance

In 2019, Wellington Free Ambulance positioned themselves in the heart of the Wairarapa community to understand what matters to local people, patients and partners when it came to health and emergency care. By popping up in a shop front in Masterton they were accessible to everyone who walked past.

T

he Wairarapa Ambulance Service Pop-Up was a space to work together with health partners, interest groups and the wider community to discuss and generate ideas on the future of community health, resilience and wellbeing, through a paramedic lens. In a refreshing and innovative space, with visual displays and interactive sessions, they created an environment for open and honest discussions, accessible to all and those who visited were able to understand status and context their work.

Through engagement with dozens of stakeholders, three community events, eight facilitated workshops, over 30 interviews and the walls covered with insights, stories and ideas for change, the team was able to challenge, create and cocreate better experiences for their community; understanding what matters in unscheduled healthcare and what it means to improve experiences for all. The Pop-Up brought together people with different knowledge, perspectives and expertise to focus on how ambulance service can help support patient outcomes in Wairarapa.

This way of working was peoplecentered from the start, and they could focus on the things that really mattered to the community and find real solutions for real problems.

How they got there

Week 2 The second week focused on collating what they had learnt from interviews and conversations the first week. In a short time, they had heard from people who have rich, deep stories, full of challenges and experiences they were generously sharing. From personal experiences, to service delivery expectations, people were honest with their insights, problems and suggestions.

Week 3

Week 1 The first few days brought many incredible and insightful stories from the people who came through the doors. From Lake Ferry and Ngawi to District Councils and Aged Care facilities, the Wellington Free team had spoken with dozens of people, both those who had interacted with their service and who had not.

Building on the workshops from the previous weeks, the team focused on an idea of creation a prototype before testing ideas with the community and the leadership team. The concepts and prototypes included a local leadership model for the Wairarapa, integrating social isolation checklists and pathways into existing tools and processes, increasing diagnose-and-treat-atpoint-of-care options for paramedics and patients using existing skills and technologies. Other ideas included a 111-app providing education, navigation and self-help options.

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Through collaboration and exploring different ways of thinking, initiatives to help address some of the major health issues facing the Wairarapa now and in the future became clearer.

Week 4 The final week focused on expanding the ideas and opportunities explored. These included prototypes for new concepts: mobile health hub, staff wellbeing initiatives and partnering with local medical centers to provide an Extended Care Paramedic model of care.

Turning the ideas and insights into tangible concepts and prototypes for testing and refinement with staff, health

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partners and community ensured people were always at the centre of their work.

By building on these conversations and relationships the team can strengthen the ways they help support community health, resilience and wellbeing in Wairarapa.

After four weeks of listening, idea generation and opportunity development, five key focus areas were identified where Wellington Free were best placed to reorganize how we can support Wairarapa community and stakeholders.

These areas were: primary care support, mental and social isolation, relationships, health pathways and support for staff.

These areas of focus helped developed a program of work that will need prioritizing and nurturing over time.

The pop-up sparked many conversations â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with tangata whenua, patients, community, District Health

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Boards, healthcare providers, social services and Non-Government Organizations. By building on these conversations and relationships, continuation of the people-centered design principles and a commitment to delivering on the pop-up learnings, the team can strengthen the ways they help support community health, resilience and wellbeing in Wairarapa.

To read the full Wairarapa Pop-Up report, visit: www.wfa.org.nz/popup

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A rare milestone well done From Ambulance Victoria Community News

S

tarting his career as a butcher might explain why during his training to be an Ambulance Officer, Bernard “Gossy” Goss, was naming body parts ‘gravy beef’ and ‘rump steak’ in his human anatomy lessons!

This month Gossy celebrates a rare milestone, only a few at Ambulance Victoria have 40 years as a paramedic.

Gossy started training in 1980 and began working as a part of the Peninsula Ambulance Service team in Frankston before moving to Sale in Gippsland.

Today, he remains in Sale and has no regrets about his career change.

To be a paramedic, Gossy cites his ability to empathise and show compassion. “You’ve got to keep an open mind and study hard. Be the best you can be as it is one of the best and rewarding jobs you could possibly have”.

He is passionate about supporting the next generation of paramedics coming up the pipeline. “Oh, my word. They are a dynamic and dedicated bunch. The crew I know in Sale know their stuff and are very capable”

In his spare time Gossy and his wife, Miffy have a surprising hobby- the Gippsland Show have awarded the pair with several first-place spots for their tasty homemade preserves, marmalades and breads.

A lot has changed in 40 years. “It’s changed enormously.

The biggest change for me is Advanced Life Support (ALS). We only had oxygen and penthrane back then”.

Gossy, you are a legend here at AV. The way you have contributed to your community for the last 40 years through your mental health support, your work as a caring leader and teacher, and you make a mean marmalade.

Recalling his most notable call as a paramedic, Bernie says it was being the first on the scene during the Esso Gas explosion in Longford back in 1998 which claimed two lives and injured eight. “It’s just the one job I remember and has stuck with me”.

Gossy believes strongly in the importance of mental health support for those in health care and emergency services. He introduced the monthly mental health forum ‘How Are You Travelling,’ as a space for these in high pressure jobs to share thoughts, ideas, struggles or vent frustrations.

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Gossy and his mate, Terry Staker saw the need to bring it to Sale after learning about its concept from fellow paramedic Al Briggs, who previously ran the program when it was active in metro Melbourne.

Congratulations Gossy!

If you live in the Gippsland area and want to know more about ‘How Are You Travelling’, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ howareyoutraveling

www.caa.net.au

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Awards First

CAA Awards for Excellence 2019 Category Winners

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Awards First

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www.caa.net.au

T

he CAA2019 Awards for Excellence consisted of five categories: Excellence in Patient Care, Excellence in Clinical Performance, Excellence in Staff Development, Excellence in Leadership and Excellence in Technology. Category winners go into the running for the over-all Star Award Winner.

Finalists for each category were announced two months prior to the CAA Awards Gala Dinner, which is traditionally held during the CAA Congress with the winners of the categories and overall Star Award winner announced and celebrated.

Over the next two issues we will be showcasing the 2019 category winners. The last issue shined the light on the 2019 Star Award Winner, who also won the Excellence in Technology, Ambulance Victoria with their Analytics Uplift Project.

Today we share with you the winners of Excellence in Staff Development: Queensland Ambulance Service with their Critical Care Paramedic Leadership Development Program, and the winners of Excellence in Patient Care: Ambulance Victoria with their GoodSAM & AED Registration Programs.

Excellence in Staff Development: Queensland Ambulance Service – Critical Care Paramedic Leadership Development Program

Leaders have often traditionally defaulted to a ‘command and control’ style that can often conspire against collaboration and can be perpetuated as aspiring leaders emulate predecessors.

The challenges of delivering high quality healthcare requires effective leadership through staff and stakeholder engagement and strengthening relationships at all levels, emphasising the importance of self-reflection, evaluation and self-improvement for personal growth and development.

Methodology The QAS has delivered a range of leadership programs in collaboration with the Queensland University of Technology Creative Industries (QUTCI).

Research demonstrates that experiential learning fosters more memorable and influential learning experiences, offering perspectives rarely found using more traditional methodologies.

The CCPLP was designed with a commitment to activities to engage participants cognitively, physically, socially and emotionally. This Is achieved through A fundamental of developing an effective leadership group discussion, playful exercises including games, style is self-awareness – knowing one’s strengths live modelling of best practice and limitations; how these play out in behaviours, peer to peer learning, A fundamental of different ways, different circumstances small group interactions based developing an effective and what influence they have on the around practical and theoretical ability to be a successful leader. leadership style is activities, and reflective practice.

The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Critical Care Paramedic Leadership Program (CCPLP) curriculum has been developed specifically for approximately 400 Critical Care Paramedics (CCP).

self-awareness – knowing one’s strengths and limitations; how these play .

The CCPLP incorporates highly participatory sessions on emotional intelligence, team building, change management, situational leadership, appreciative inquiry, quality improvement and organisational culture, to articulate the expected professional standards and behaviours envisaged for a CCP as an exemplar clinical leader in the QAS.

Participants use solution focused coaching scenarios with real situations readily identifiable from their lived experience as part of their development within the program.

The learning design process allows participants to have direct input into how the experience assists (or at times does not assist) their growth, with their input fed into the next iteration of the program. This process ensures the program is constantly refreshed and connects to individual and QAS learning needs.

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Awards First

Implementation

Evaluation

The CCLDP is an experiential interactive program offering space for reflective practice to provide an environment for participants to challenge their thinking, learn from their colleagues, and shift perspectives, which in turn triggers new insights and understandings.

The CCPLP has encouraged CCPs to understand the position of influence they hold as clinicians and leaders within QAS with an important role to mentor and drive positive cultural change.

Participants demonstrate a willingness to step into the learning experiences, by being prepared to: •

share their workplace concerns/dilemmas/challenges

•

reflect on their professional practise

•

take risks and by being vulnerable and showing courage

•

step into the planned activities and share experiences

•

support each other and learn from each other

•

ask curious questions

•

follow facilitators lead

•

be boisterous, chat, laugh, joke with colleagues and facilitators

•

tell stories facilitators did not expect to hear

•

physically move in the space to engage with new colleagues.

Positive formal and informal feedback from participants, clearly illustrates a strong desire from QAS leaders to have meaningful learning experiences, along with the use of innovative tools for leadership development.

Participants appreciated the opportunity to be exposed to new theories and models and responded positively to the innovative approach with feedback comments including: “This is by far the best professional development course I have been on. Interactive and the presenters were absolutely fantastic.”

“Excellent, informative, more self-aware, should be part of the CCP internship. I hope they continue to develop this and have follow-up sessions.”

Scope QAS is committed to the development of technical skills, professionalism and leadership capability in its staff, with a growing emphasis on the cognitive benefits in understanding emotional intelligence.

Since the first program in December 2017, another five programs have been delivered in 2018 & 2019 with a total of 130 participants.

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Excellence in Patient Care Ambulance Victoria – GoodSAM & AED Registration Programs Early, effective bystander CPR and public access defibrillation are strongly associated with increased rates of survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA).

Ambulance Victoria (AV) partnered with UK company GoodSAM to adopt smartphone technology to alert nearby community responders to suspected cardiac arrests.

Using the smartphone app, AV alerts the three nearest registered responders to suspected cardiac arrest following a Triple Zero (000) call, provides them with the location of the patient and the nearest available Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs).

The closest available ambulance is simultaneously dispatched and, in some parts of Victoria, the fire brigade is co-dispatched.

Aim The aims of the GoodSAM and AED Registration Programs are to: •

Alert registered community first responders equipped with an AED (if available) to cardiac arrest patients

•

Minimise the time to effective CPR and defibrillation in OHCA

•

Provide registered AED locations to GoodSAM users

•

Increase bystander Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) in the community

•

Improve survival from OHCA

Background More than 6,500 Victorians experience an OHCA every year.

The community’s role in the chain of survival is vital.

Without a bystander performing CPR and using an AED before an ambulance arrives, the chance of survival reduces by 10% for every minute of delay.

GoodSAM works to improve time to CPR and defibrillation by alerting trained responders. Reducing time to CPR and defibrillation has a significant impact on patients’ short and long term outcomes, particularly in rural areas where ambulance response times are longer.

Patients defibrillated by a member of the public are significantly more likely to survive to hospital discharge than those attended by EMS first responders or paramedics: 64 per cent vs 33 per cent vs 26 per cent respectively in Victoria 2017/18.

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Awards First

Methodology

Evaluation

AVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GoodSAM program was rolled out in January 2018.

The number of GoodSAM registrations increased steadily over the evaluation period, from 527 to 1,926 and have now reached more than 4,000.

The current AV AED registry has been updated with the introduction of GoodSAM which has seen more than 5,000 AEDs registered across the state with 2,921 in public access areas.

Six Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System (AMPDS) event types are used to generate GoodSAM alerts, with events automatically screened for inappropriate locations or scene safety issues.

Community responders agree to a code of conduct pertaining to safety, patient care and privacy and can be deregistered if they do not comply.

Implementation A detailed implementation plan was developed to incorporate evaluation, communications and engagement along with extensive stakeholder consultation and risk assessment for responders.

The mental health and wellbeing of GoodSAM responders is at the forefront of the program.

It is estimated there are up to 15,000 unregistered defibrillators across Victoria. Since calling on the public to help find the missing AEDs, five have been registered with AV and GoodSAM every day.

Initial GoodSAM responders were recruited from AVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operational workforce during the pilot phase. The program was extended to AV corporate staff, registered health professionals, and first aid qualified members from partner organisations in May 2018.

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The rate of alert acceptance by responders varied according to time of day, with 26 per cent accepting during business hours, 30.4 per cent during the evening and 11.2 per cent from midnight to 8am.

The proportion of OHCA patients surviving when a GoodSAM responder attended was almost four times higher than GoodSAM eligible events where no responder was present (41.2 per cent vs 11.3 per cent).

Scope Responders have been alerted to 544 events during the evaluation period with the survival rate where there was a GoodSAM responder was much greater than for all GoodSAM eligible cardiac arrests.

This highlights the huge potential survival gains if every cardiac arrest patient received a GoodSAM response.

The number of GoodSAM responders need to significantly increase to provide a meaningful impact to OHCA survival, with the program planned to expand to all first-aid qualified adult Victorians from July 2019.

Further research is planned into the motivations and experiences of GoodSAM responders.

www.caa.net.au

OPEN YOUR DOOR and join us for the CAA WEBINAR SERIES! With the postponement of the CAA2020 Congress due to COVID-19. We have designed a series of 1 hour webinars to ďŹ ll the knowledge gap. This allows all of our members to access an incredible line up of speakers, discussing thought provoking and stimulating topics that directly aďŹ&#x20AC;ect paramedicine of today and tomorrow.

Professional development without leaving the lounge!

For more information go to caa.net.au/webinars 51

Feature First

Tony 9th December 2019 just after 2pm New Zealand time the Whakaari/ White Island in New Zealandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bay of Plenty explosively erupted. At the time of the eruption

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Smith 47 people were on the island, 21 people subsequently died (approximately half within the first hours) and 34 were treated for serious injuries many of these for severe burn injuries.

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Feature First

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www.caa.net.au

S

t John NZ was the responding road ambulance service and Dr Tony Smith, Clinical Director for the service helped lead the response which has proven to be one of the most challenging events in Tonyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-standing medical career.

Dr Tony Smith chairs the working group that develops the clinical procedures and guidelines for the ambulance sector in New Zealand, serves as a doctor for the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service of the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust.

Tony sits on several clinical networks and committees.

He is a member of the New Zealand Resuscitation Council, the Australian and New Zealand Committee on Resuscitation and the New Zealand Major Trauma Clinical Network.

Image provided by NZ Herald

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Feature First

S

afe to say somebody with Tony’s years of experience would think they would be ready for what Whakaari will throw their way, but a year on from the event, Tony to this day struggles with the memories of patients and the situation he and his team faced last year.

F. Tony, it has been a year since the horrific disaster on Whakaari/White Island. We have heard you speak after the event and in the months after, that this was one of the hardest events you have attended in your medical career. Can you take us though the event itself and what waited for you on the island?

The event was unprecedented in New Zealand.

Although we had experienced incidents with higher numbers of patients (for example the Christchurch earthquake and the Christchurch terrorist attack), we had never experienced such incident with so many badly injured and badly burned people so far from major hospitals.

It was additionally complex because the patients were spread across four sites – the island, the wharf (where tourist boats were coming in), the airfield (where tourist helicopters were coming in) and subsequently the local hospital where we staged many of the patients.

F. Obviously, you must look after the patients, but in such harsh conditions we assume you would be equally concerned about your team and their safety and wellbeing?

Unfortunately, when we arrived all the patients remaining on the island were dead, and it was clear that they had died very quickly.

We were concerned about our own safety and we stayed as far away from the crater as we could as the volcano was still active. The team had several escape plans in the event of another eruption.

F. What were the biggest challenges you and the team faced on the island?

The island itself was very challenging.

The crater was spewing clouds of sulphur. The ground was covered in thick hot sulphur ash that was lifted into the air by gusts of wind. The sulphur ash got everywhere, including in our pockets.

Despite wearing PPE (personal protection equipment) our eyes and exposed areas of skin were immediately severely irritated. Our eyes were streaming, it was hard to breathe, even with a respiratory mask.

F. You have been very open that this event has taken a toll on your own mental health. Are you able to share more on how this past year has looked from a mental health and wellbeing point of view?

It was tough.

I’ve experienced a lot of difficult scenes in my career, exposed to a lot of human tragedy and death in both

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of my jobs, and I honestly thought I was largely immune from any effects on my personal mental health.

But I was wrong.

In the weeks and months following that day I began to experience, for the very first time, a significant impact on my mental health. I was experiencing multiple flash backs, I wasn’t sleeping well, and I was spontaneously busting into tears. I had to admit that I wasn’t OK. I sought help and it helped.

F. We know St John NZ has a great peer support system in place for staff, including an in-house psychologist. How have they been able to assist you and the team since the event? Was there support set up straight after the event?

Our peer support system, both informal and formal was superb, and yes, the support started that same day. It was very helpful, and I want to thank all the colleagues who helped me.

F. Could you ever imagine that this event would be so hard to cope with, given that as an emergency department doctor and medical director for St John NZ you would have seen very traumatic events in the past including the terror shootings in Christchurch and the earthquakes in Christchurch among others?

No, it was such a surprise that it took such a toll on my mental health. The anniversary has, unfortunately, opened some old wounds and that has also been tough.

F. Have you adjusted your life and how you look after your wellbeing since this event, and maybe looked at how to deal with events like these in the future?

I used to think I was probably immune from any impact of my job on my mental health, but I no longer think that and recognise that no-one is immune. I used to be a little sceptical about the value of formal psychological support, but I am no longer sceptical, as it was very helpful.

F. Do you have any advice or suggestions for ambulance staff (on road, managers, communication centre teams) on how to deal with an event like Whakaari, or other major events?

Communication is the key. Information will arrive faster than you can process it, and much of the initial information will be wrong. Get your structure in place and follow your plan, but like any plan you will need to modify it as you go. www.caa.net.au

The 2021 January CAA Webinar will feature Dr Tony Smith, presenting on the Whakaari/White Island eruption and response.

To join us please visit www.caa.net.au/webinars 28 January 2021, 11.30am AEDT

Image provided by NZ Herald

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Events First

CAA Congress 2021

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A

s the year rolls towards the end we are excited to look to 2021 and our CAA Congress. Sadly, same as many events this year the CAA2020 Congress was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions.

And so, the planning for CAA2021 Congress is in full swing and ready to welcome you to the wonderful Sydney in July. The new dates are Thursday 15th July to Saturday 17th July at the spectacular ICC (International Convention Centre).

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The Infection Control Forum will feature the response, learnings and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, including an industry panel to discuss the pandemic and how best to prepare for any such

We kept the majority of our program the same, expecting to see some changes to include concurrent sessions and topics such as the COVID-19 pandemic, seeing we really canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t run an ambulance congress without addressing the elephant in the room.

For 10+ years the CAA Congress has been the pre-eminent education event

The week will again feature several events, starting with two specialised forums on Thursday 15th July â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Infection Control Forum and Women in Leadership Forum. Both forums will feature expert presenters and an interesting program that will very much reflect the developments from 2020.

David Waters CEO, Council of Ambulance Authorities

future events. We are excited to welcome Dr Paul Simpson, the Director of Paramedicine at Western Sydney University and

Edward Johnson, Health Policy Researcher, as part of the Infection Control Forum.

The CAA Women in Leadership working group has had a busy year launching the inaugural Women in Ambulance campaign designed to recognise talented and hardworking women of the ambulance sector, releasing the sector-wide Women in Ambulance strategy and running the first Women in Leadership survey across CAA members.

Holding the Women in Leadership Forum next year following such great strides will prove for an interesting day filled with inspirational presenters and discussion on how the ambulance sector can progress this important topic over the next few years.

We have a strong line up of presenters including the Hon Pru Goward, former Cabinet Minister, Kate Munari, Helicopter Pilot

www.caa.net.au

with three completed tours in Afghanistan, Lee Clout, first female paramedic employed by NSW Ambulance and more.

The first day of the CAA Congress traditionally closes with a Welcome Function and in 2021 we are taking you to the iconic Sydney Aquarium for an evening of networking and catching up with friends, especially since we haven’t been able to do so for a long while.

Friday morning will kick off with a networking breakfast and a preview of the refreshed CAA Expo. We are

400+ delegates

2 day Expo

beyond excited to welcome you to ICC Gallery that will host the new CAA Expo, jam-packed with our partners’, sponsors’ and exhibitors’ stalls including a University Alley and CAA Hub. The Expo will for two days offer demonstrations by our exhibitors and mini masterclasses by our services and partners.

Speakers include Gill Hicks’ powerful story of surviving the London bombing, Daniel Weis, Ethical Hacker who will make us think hard about our online security and presence, Nigel Phair, formerly of Australian High Tech Crime Centre speaking to us on cybercrime and many more.

On Friday and Saturday the Congress main program will be a selection of inspirational and thought-provoking speakers that will address the ‘New Normal’ now more relevant than ever.

Friday evening, we will be thrilled to gather with our industry peers to celebrate the CAA2021 Awards for Excellence. After being forced to cancel the 2020 CAA Awards, next year’s gala awards dinner will be even more special.

200+ Executive & Senior Managers

Specialised Forums Women In Leadership, Infection Control, Global Resuscitation Alliance

3 days of professional development

CAA Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner

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Events First

Speaker Spotlight

Gill Hicks is considered to be one of the most thought-provoking, powerful and life-affirming speakers in Australia and the UK. She is globally known as an advocate for sustainable peace and a valuable resource in countering violent extremism.

Her devotion to making a personal greater contribution and positive difference to the urgency of building peace was realised when she was made permanently injured in the London terrorist bombings on July 7th, 2005.

But Gill is much more than a survivor.

Her presentations focus on topics such as confidence and trust within ourselves, how having both allows us to make transformative choices. Gill advocates for the growth of a more confident collective/communities, societies and as a nation. As a finalist for Australian of the Year, her platform was centred on the importance of growing a confident and cohesive Australia.

Nigel Phair has strong professional, government and community links and well-established national and international networks. He is a sought after commentator, advisor and strategist who focuses on technology and business disruption.

As an engaging and passionate speaker, Nigel is relatable across a broad variety of audiences and technology-related topics. He draws upon his experience in law enforcement, consulting and academia.

Nigel’s talks make this topic enjoyable, entertaining and interesting, without involving too much jargon, to make this sometimes complicated subject accessible to a wider audience.

He is founder and managing director of a technology ‘start up’ company and has chaired a number of not-for-profit organisations.

She speaks of change, or rather the negative connotation change has and change-makers are often revered figures who are seen as ‘pioneer’s’ and ‘leaders’. She encourages audiences to take control of change through our Choice of how we React and Respond... and use it as opportunity.

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www.caa.net.au

Kate Munari completed three tours of duty in Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot, embedded in the British Royal Marine Commando’s Helicopter Force.

There she captained missions day and night into some of the most hostile areas of the war-torn country.

Helmand Province was her home for almost 12 months.

Day time temperatures exceeded 45 degrees, night time temperatures reached below -15 degrees, and throughout it all, Kate was expected to operate at the top of her mental and physical performance, lives depended on it.

Being the only female amongst a workforce of over 150 aircrew at Commando Helicopter Force, living away from family and friends and working in close conditions in the pressure cooker environment of a war zone, were just some of the challenges she faced and successfully overcame.

Confronted with ever-changing situations, Kate made critical decisions time and time again, day after day for months on end. This high tempo of operations taught her the skills of planning, prioritization, leadership and practical people management that contributed to three successful tours of Afghanistan.

Throughout her presentation, Kate will take you on a unique journey to places you have never been and through situations that will have you on the edge of your seat. Kate will inspire and motivate audiences to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.

Edward Johnson is a health policy researcher. For ten years he practised as a speech pathologist across rural and remote Australia, predominantly working with people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses.

His PhD is focused on digital capacitybuilding in rural and remote communities, aims to develop sustainable, equitable, and person-centred service delivery models in the bush. He now consults on public health policy; is Co-Founder of Umbo (an online allied health service), and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He is Non-Executive Director at SARRAH, and Councillor at the National Rural Health Alliance.

Ed is interested in the environmental impact that infectious and non-infectious diseases have on communities and human neurodevelopment, particularly relevant in a context of climate shift, emerging infectious and non-infectious diseases, and global population movements.

While investigating these issues, Mr Johnson continues to educate people on the importance of relationships between humans, animals, and the environment. In doing so, he is inspired by the words of everyone’s favourite Czech existential anarchist, Franz Kafka, who said “Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable.”

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Partners First

The National Rural Health Alliance

T

he National Rural Health Alliance represents 44 national organizations in Australia. Its aim is to improve the health services delivery to over 7 million Australians living in rural and remote areas, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The diverse range of members allows clear directions and identifies areas of importance to rural and remote communities. It also delivers significant synergies to the communities they serve.

The NRHA works on the delivery of the stable telecommunication access to provide access to telehealth and online education, public health initiatives, food pricing and security, dealing with natural disasters, effect of COVID19 amongst many others.

The CAA has been a contributing member for many years, ensuring the work of paramedics, first responders and volunteers in rural and remote communities is acknowledged as part of the comprehensive health service delivery. Their close relationship

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with the communities they serve are synergized with other medical and allied health services. Rural paramedics are valued members of the community, the conduit between the community, their acute presentations and the health system.

The CAA regularly reports on the initiatives their services in engaging with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through initiatives including training future paramedics, working with the communities to improve health outcomes, promoting public health initiatives, creating productive trusting relationships.

There is ongoing information and support exchange between the two organizations to support the many events, research and implementation of significant

improvements in the delivery of paramedic services in the rural and remote Australia.

To view of the latest CAA contribution to Partyline magazine www.ruralhealth.org.au/partyline/ article/spotlight-ambulance-services For more information on National Rural Health Alliance please visit www.ruralhealth.org.au

www.caa.net.au

AFAC

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FAC is the National Council for Fire and Emergency Services in Australia and New Zealand, and the facilitator and custodian of contemporary fire and emergency service knowledge and practice.

Comprised of 32 members and 21 affiliate members, AFAC represents a workforce of more than 290,000 career and volunteer personnel across fire and emergency service and land management agencies.

Through our Collaboration Framework, AFAC builds knowledge and creates solutions across jurisdictions, capabilities and hazards by bringing together the experience and expertise of our membership. This collective approach identifies common challenges, generates solutions, and inspires new directions in practice for the benefit of our members and through them, the community.

Recognising the multifaceted nature of emergency management and the importance of each stage of prevention, preparedness, response and recovery, AFAC maintains a number of business units and partnerships. This includes: The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) develops, shares and curates knowledge, and delivers a program of professional development events and networks to build national capability to support a disaster resilient Australia.

This includes AIDR’s Volunteer Leadership Program delivered across Australia, the Australian Disaster

Resilience Knowledge Hub and the Handbook Collection. AIDR was pleased to work collaboratively with CAA on the development of the Emergency Planning handbook.

All these initiatives align with AFAC’s values of diversity and inclusion, including the commitment to the Champions of Change gender equity campaign.

The AFAC National Resource Sharing Centre (NRSC) supports deployments of fire and emergency personnel between Australian states and territories, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. The 2019–20 bushfire season saw the AFAC NRSC’s largest interstate and international deployments of fire and emergency service personnel ever mounted in Australia.

A key role for AFAC collaboration groups is the harmonisation of national doctrine for fire and emergency services. In 2016, AFAC Council approved the revision and co-badged AFAC/CAA Guideline on Emergency Medical Response (EMR). The Guideline informs fire and emergency service agencies of what an EMR role could entail, where fire and emergency services co-respond with ambulance for incidents involving suspected cardiac arrest or cardiac arrest. In 2020 again, AFAC worked in partnership with CAA to revise the Emergency Medical Response Guideline, specifically to address public health emergencies, such as pandemics, and the increased safety precautions and response capabilities to be considered.

The National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) provides a national cooperative arrangement for the provision of aerial resources for fire and emergency purposes, co-funded

by Australian states and territories and the Australian Government.

During the 2019–20 bushfire season, NAFC contracted a fleet of 168 aircraft, the largest since its inception in 2003.

AFAC supports the professional development of the sector and member agencies through the Emergency Management Professionalisation Scheme, the annual AFAC conference and exhibition and its program of knowledge events.

AFAC looks forward to working collaboratively with CAA into the future and welcomes CAA members to learn more about AFAC at www.afac.com.au.

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Research First

Heat Stress and Thermal Perceptions amongst Healthcare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

By Jason Lee and Nicholas Goh

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www.caa.net.au

B

etween a climate crisis and a global pandemic, healthcare workers find themselves caught in the middle of a perfect storm. 2020 has witnessed unprecedented rates of emergency medical care and record-breaking high temperatures in cities across the globe; this puts healthcare workers, already stretched to their limits with 12-hourlong shifts and imminent risk of contagion, under immense strain â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in particular, heat strain.

Concerned with unmitigated exposure to heat stress confronting healthcare workers (HCWs) daily, a team of researchers from Singapore and India collaborated in a study that sought to understand how healthcare workers have been coping with the heat. The team comprised medical doctors, physiologists, and epidemiologists who are all united in mitigating heat strain in an occupational setting. The study involved surveying HCWs working in facilities housing COVID-19 infected patients in Singapore and Southern India during the pandemic. The self-administered questionnaires tested the respondentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of PPE use and heat stress management.

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Research First

Heat strain is the resultant body’s thermal load to supernormal heat levels, whether externally inflicted, e.g., high ambient temperature, humidity and clothing, or internally produced, e.g., metabolic heat in most cases, a combination of the two. This can be exacerbated when an individual’s ability to regulate heat is impaired, such as when clothing prevents the evaporation of perspiration from the skin to cool down the body. When the body’s core temperature increases beyond a threshold, typically around 40°C, one can suffer from some form of heat illness, ranging from relatively mild symptoms such as exhaustion and impaired judgement to critically threatening ones such as heat stroke.

During this pandemic, HCWs wear personal protective equipment (PPE) while on the job. PPE, such as medical gowns, gloves, and masks, are often non-permeable, which impedes these workers’ ability to regulate heat and therefore induce elevated levels of heat strain.

Many cities, overwhelmed by the pace of the pandemic, are erecting emergency medical tents and shelters to house the overflow of patients from hospitals that are running past full capacity.

These facilities are often not air-conditioned nor optimally ventilated, making it even more difficult for healthcare workers to regulate their body core temperatures while working.

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The study revealed that PPE use, as expected, significantly challenges one’s ability to stay comfortable during shifts. A majority of respondents reported experiencing adverse physiological symptoms, such as headaches, breathlessness, dehydration, and exhaustion, as well as psychological symptoms, such as an impaired sense of judgement and a lower sense of wellbeing.

HCWs are generally cognizant of the effects of heat stress and are able to identify symptoms of heat strain. Nevertheless, the study does not observe an uptake in sick leave nor a change in commitment to their jobs — while one could attribute this to the circumstances surrounding the ongoing pandemic, the researchers postulate that HCWs underestimate the severity of their symptoms of heat strain and the long-term impacts on their health.

Mild symptoms of heat strain are often precursors to heat illnesses such as heat stroke. Without timely intervention, HCWs in these settings are especially susceptible to these consequences.

One of the study’s primary objectives was to comprehend the differences in understanding of the impacts of heat stress and mitigation strategies between the HCWs in developing and developed countries, using India and Singapore as representative case studies. In this regard, the study observed a higher frequency of HCWs in India who report symptoms of heat

strain than their counterparts in Singapore. An investigation into this points to a systemic difference in practices and facilities in both countries. For example, HCWs in India are less likely to take breaks, presumably because they cannot afford the time to do so and are less likely to remove their PPE during rests for PPE-conservation reasons.

There is also a higher prevalence of dedicated, air-conditioned rest areas in the hospitals and healthcare facilities in Singapore, which influences whether or not HCWs take breaks and how effective these breaks are at regulating their body temperatures.

There is, however, a glimmer of hope in the fight against heat stress.

The researchers recommended a set of strategies that HCWs can actively and immediately work on individually to protect themselves from heat stress. One such method, and the most effective of all, is to improve one’s aerobic fitness, which improves the body’s heat dissipation mechanisms and tolerance of heat.

Hydration is also crucial, as one would expect, although not nearly as effective. Instead, the study recommends ingestion of ice slurry — an ice-blended beverage, or cold water to achieve pre-cooling — the lowering one’s body temperature before an activity. HCWs who were offered an ice slurry beverage during their breaks were reported to feel better and more comfortable during their shifts.

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Crucially, the researchers urged hospitals and medical institutions to employ heat warning systems that inform HCWs of their heat risk.

These warning systems are based on a heat risk index that takes into account environmental factors, such as ambient temperature and humidity, behavioral information, such as occupation and type of activity, and personal information, such as fitness and body composition. These customized heat risk indices will predict one’s vulnerability to heat strain and recommend mitigation strategies, advice, and work to rest ratios accordingly.

There has been a growing recognition for the urgency of occupational heat protection globally in the last few years. There are already a few projects commissioned to focus on heat health and worker protection, such as HEAT-SHIELD in Europe and more recently HEATSAFE in Southeast Asia.

Most cities have only just emerged from the sweltering cusp of summer’s heat. Even as autumn swings around to provide some cool relief, there is a palpable sense of anxiety at how much longer this pandemic will continue to drag out.

Europe and North America are

now experiencing new “waves” of cases with peaks far higher than the previous waves. With no sign of the pandemic stuttering and vaccines still a distance away from being commercially and widely available, the threat of the pandemic surviving into next summer is quickly turning into reality. By then, hospitals and medical institutions worldwide must be better prepared not just in their ongoing fight against COVID-19 but also the perennial problem of heat stress.

Jason Lee Associate Professor Jason Lee is from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore.

He chairs the National (Singapore) Work Group on Heat Stress Guidelines for Workers and the Scientific Committee on Thermal Factors at the International Commission on Occupational Health.

He leads the Heat Safe Singapore Project

Nicholas Goh Research Assistant Nicholas Goh is a research assistant on the Heat Safe Singapore Project. He recently graduated from the National University of Singapore, majoring in Economics.

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For example, services incorporated COVID-19 triage into criteria for Ambulance Communications Officers (ACOs) to enable preliminary identification of potential cases, which has implications for first responders, patients, and the broader health system and community.

Flagging potential COVID-19 cases and forewarning paramedics of the need for full PPE at the dispatch stage sets the data collection in motion.

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About the author Helen Conlin, General Manager, Interdev Technologies Australasia Email: conlinh@interdevtech.com Telephone: +61 (0) 403 033 260 www.interdev.ca

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Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s post-COVID workforce: Shaping the path to recovery

By The Sydney Morning Herald

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or much of 2020, businesses have been in crisis mode, responding to the immediate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, as they begin to emerge from this phase, fresh challenges pave the road to recovery. To thrive in the “next normal”, companies will need new skills and shifted mindsets, say workplace experts.

The smartest operators will find opportunity in the change, says Ed Hurst, principle people scientist at Glint. “We’ll see companies adopt a lot of what we’ve learned during COVID to accelerate into a better future,” he says.

Remote is the reality COVID-19 revealed some surprising benefits of a dispersed workforce.

Productivity increased as home-based workers won back time from their daily commute and harnessed tech solutions to streamline their workflow.

“In the post-COVID world, WFA (work from anywhere) will be a new normal for many. Even as we look towards recovery, many workers will be more deliberate about when and why they go to the office,” says Atlassian work futurist Dom Price.

“TEAM Anywhere gives Atlassian employees the choice to work from

There’s an opportunity emerging to move away from a fixed mindset around working from home and debunking old assumptions that remote work would lead to productivity losses.

Adam Gregory,

Senior Director, Adam Gregory, senior director LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Asia Pacific of LinkedIn Talent Solutions for Asia-Pacific, believes it’s almost certain that remote work any combination of home, office or is here to stay. Globally, the volume igloo because this kind of flexibility of job searches using the “remote” in where and how we want to work filter on LinkedIn has increased is what will come to be expected of by 60 per cent. employers.”

“There’s an opportunity emerging to move away from a fixed mindset around working from home and debunking old assumptions Tomorrow’s successful companies that remote work would lead to will reinvent their structures around productivity losses,” says Gregory. a clearly defined central purpose, says Hurst.

Leading companies seem to agree. Australian tech giant “This change means more than Atlassian is one of several big just flexible hours and working players shifting permanently from home,” he adds. “It feels like away from the office, with its a more fundamental shift, led by new “TEAM Anywhere” policy. the question: what is the nature

Finding true north

and purpose of our work in the first place?”

The best companies have learned to look beyond day-to-day, taskoriented office structures and the “where and when” of workflow, to focus on their defining goals.

It’s an attitude well suited to success, and again, Atlassian is leading the march. Under its new mission “outcomes not hours”, teams will reunite around their collective vision, with each individual choosing how they might best contribute to it.

Says Hurst: “Businesses are now focused far more on their culture and on the purpose of the organisation. It’s almost like this time has enabled us to take that step back and actually think about what is going to drive long-term success.”

Diversity is a crucial part of this changed picture. “A number one focus for so many of our customers at LinkedIn is diversity, and it’s about all kinds of abilities bringing strength and value,” says Gregory.

“Remote working as a pathway to the future brings into the equation talented people who perhaps aren’t as comfortable working in an office or a city or using public transport – for example, someone with visual disabilities or someone living with anxiety. Teams can draw on so many different talent pools to be potentially stronger than they were pre-COVID.”

The use of this work has been licensed by Copyright Agency except as permitted by the Copyright Act, you must not re-use this work without the permission of the copyright owner of Copyright Agency.

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The most recent LinkedIn data backs him up, showing that posts on diversity receive on average 125 per cent more engagement than the standard company post in Asia-Pacific; and in Australia, engagement is 208 per cent above average for posts that speak about a company’s values in relation to diversity.

Win through wellbeing Stress and uncertainty have placed heavy strain on the mental health of workforces.

At the same time, teams working remotely experienced a new intimacy, glimpsing each other’s home environments and personal lives.

Kindness, trust and empathy became key to navigating these changed circumstances – and they’ll remain essential in a future where workplace wellbeing matters like never before.

“It’s very easy when you’re in the office, and everyone’s got their game face on, to think about the person just in their role. But now you need to understand much more about what drives and motivates people.”

For Gregory, this means leaders need to bring greater compassion to their roles. “There’s such a need now to manage the whole individual,” he says.

The organisations and individuals who are successful in the postCOVID world will be the ones who recognise empathy, caring, inspiration, listening, and are enabled to develop those muscles and mindsets really effectively.

Ed Hurst,

Ed Hurst agrees: “The organisations and individuals who are successful in the postCOVID world will be the ones who recognise empathy, caring, inspiration, listening, and are enabled to develop those muscles and mindsets really effectively.”

Wellbeing-focused companies will reimagine roles to suit their people, predicts Gregory.

“There might be more job sharing, and the coming together of certain roles, marrying different skill sets.

We could also see the advent of entirely new roles – and, in fact, Chief Wellbeing Officer would be an important one.”

Principle People Scientist, Glint

Key points:

125% Posts on diversity receive on average 125 per cent more engagement than the standard company post in Asia-Pacific

208% In Australia, engagement is 208 per cent above average for posts that speak about a company’s values in relation to diversity

300% A member’s post is likely to gain 3x more traction than a company’s post. So if members are proud of the values their employer is expressing, they’re very effective at spreading that message.

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National COVID-19 safe workplace principles Page last updated: 29 Apr 2020 www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/ covid-19-information-workplaces/ other-resources/national-covid-19safe-workplace-principles Recognising that the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency, that all actions in respect of COVID-19 should be founded in expert health advice and that the following principles operate subject to the measures agreed and implemented by governments through the National Cabinet process 1. All workers, regardless of their occupation or how they are engaged, have the right to a healthy and safe working environment.

2. The COVID-19 pandemic requires a uniquely focused approach to work health and safety (WHS) as it applies to businesses, workers and others in the workplace.

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3. To keep our workplaces healthy and safe, businesses must, in consultation with workers, and their representatives, assess the way they work to identify,

understand and quantify risks and to implement and review control measures to address those risks.

4. As COVID-19 restrictions are gradually relaxed, businesses, workers and other duty holders must work together to adapt and promote safe work practices, consistent with advice from health authorities, to ensure their workplaces are ready for the social distancing and exemplary hygiene measures that will be an important part of the transition.

5. Businesses and workers must actively control against the transmission of COVID-19 while at work, consistent with the latest advice from the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), including considering the application of a hierarchy of appropriate controls where relevant.

6. Businesses and workers must prepare for the possibility that there will be cases of COVID-19 in the workplace and be ready to respond immediately, appropriately, effectively and efficiently, and consistent with advice from health authorities.

7. Existing state and territory jurisdiction of WHS compliance and enforcement remains

critical. While acknowledging that individual variations across WHS laws mean approaches in different parts of the country may vary, to ensure business and worker confidence, a commitment to a consistent national approach is key. This includes a commitment to communicating what constitutes best practice in prevention, mitigation and response to the risks presented by COVID-19.

8. Safe Work Australia (SWA), through its tripartite membership, will provide a central hub of WHS guidance and tools that Australian workplaces can use to successfully form the basis of their management of health and safety risks posed by COVID-19.

9. States and Territories ultimately have the role of providing advice, education, compliance and enforcement of WHS and will leverage the use of the SWA central hub in fulfilling their statutory functions.

10. The work of the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission will complement the work of SWA, jurisdictions and health authorities to support industries more broadly to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic appropriately, effectively and safely. www.caa.net.au

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Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to rethink indoor airflow to reduce the spread of COVID-19, say experts

By Emily Bourke, ABC News

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asks, social distancing and hand hygiene have become widely accepted as ways to reduce the spread of coronavirus but some scientists are saying the ventilation of our homes and workplaces could be another tool in our prevention armoury.

As we learn more about COVID-19, more evidence has emerged that the virus spreads through aerosols as well as through larger droplets, especially in closed, crowded spaces.

“It is a resource issue but I also think it’s a leadership issue. If your leaders are convinced that this is a critical piece of the puzzle, then they will find a way to make it happen.”

But the good news, according to aerosol scientist Alex Huffman from Denver University, is we can do things to reduce the risks indoors.

Why has indoor airflow not been a bigger part of the conversation?

“Ventilation is a really important piece of the puzzle,” he told the ABC’s AM program.

Keeping fresh air flowing has not yet been a high priority as public health officials have focused on the important work of increasing the adoption of social distancing and mask-wearing but now, said Dr Huffman, it was time to begin talking to the public more about our indoor environment.

Some solutions, he said, could be implemented by people in their own homes at little to no cost but making changes to offices and public buildings needed a bigger effort from politicians and business.

Airflow inside buildings and other enclosed areas like public transport has received less attention than other prevention strategies, in part because of debate within medical and scientific circles about the role of aerosols in the transmission of the virus, with some experts focusing on bigger droplet particles as being more important in transmission.

But in recent weeks, the World Health Organization, the American Centers for Disease Control, the European Commission and Canada have acknowledged airborne aerosol transmission has a significant role in the spread of coronavirus.

Australia’s Infection Control Expert Group has acknowledged the potential for aerosol transmission in some clinical settings and has noted the risk may be higher in poorly ventilated indoor crowded environments.

The group’s current prevention advice lists good hand hygiene, physical distancing, staying at home and masks.

It does not list airflow.

Dr Robyn Schofield, an atmospheric chemist from the School of Earth Sciences at Melbourne University, said the threat of aerosol transmission is particularly significant for the virus spreading indoors.

“If you have an inside space with a lot of people in it, a lot of people breathing, you will get a lot of aerosol building up and so the risk is higher.

“If the source person is wearing a mask, most of the respiratory aerosol has been caught by the mask so the risk is lower but if masks are off, people are eating and there is poor

Key points

€ In recent weeks the World Health Organization and the United States Centers for Disease Control have acknowledged airborne aerosols as important in COVID-19 transmission

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Germany is investing 500 million euros to improve ventilation in public buildings

A member of the WHO’s expert panel on COVID-19 says assessing ventilation is costly, which is why it hasn’t gained broader traction

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the School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at QUT believes there are easy precautions that can be taken now.

“We have to do whatever we can do now, opening windows, increasing ventilation, turning up the buttons in offices or wherever we are.”

“Building managers — pressuring them to increase ventilation and reduce re-circulation. All these things can be done now,” she said.

Dr Schofield added that simple and cost-effective precautions are available to many of us.

“We want the information on ventilation to get out to the public because it all just helps reduce our risk.”

ventilation, you have a situation where the risks are higher.”

UK-trained GP Dr David Berger has been advocating on behalf of frontline health workers during the pandemic.

He said there was a frustrating reticence to acknowledge the importance of airflow.

“It almost seems like there is a lot of face and ego in this and people aren’t prepared to backtrack.

“As long as people believe that washing their hands and staying 1.5 metres apart is going to keep them safe, they are working on the wrong information. This is all about ventilation.”

“If you’re in a building with a great HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] system, you want to try to bring as much outdoor air in [as you can].”

If you have an inside space with a lot of people in it, a lot of people breathing, you will get a lot of aerosol building up and so the risk is higher.

Dr. Robyn Schofield, Atmospheric Chemist, School of Earth Sciences, Melbourne University

Occupational hygienist and engineer Kate Cole said: “Whether it’s a hospital, an aged care facility, a school or an office — everyone should be looking at what can they do to increase the amount of fresh air, remove the amount of contaminated air and increase the volume of air going into their spaces.

Some ventilation measures are simple Ventilation, aerosols and atmospheric chemistry can sound overwhelmingly complicated but Professor Lidia Morowska from

While broad social restrictions have helped combat the pandemic in Australia, COVID-19 infections are rising dramatically in many northern hemisphere countries as they head into winter.

Shelly Miller, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado, believes ventilation will be important to reducing the spread there.

“It’s going to be a really rough and terrible winter for all of us and it’s heartbreaking.”

“We have to wear a goodfitting mask, they have to be efficient and we have to social-distance. Then we need to look at ventilation and supplement that with air-cleaning.

“Putting all of these things together is a layered approach that can help us to make things much less risky.”

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Bigger changes to buildings could be difficult All major buildings where people congregate should be assessed for ventilation, according to Professor Mary Louise McLaws, an expert in epidemiology, hospital infection and disease control and a member of the WHO’s expert panel on COVID-19.

She said confined spaces need ventilation rates of 3 litres of air per second per person.

“It’s [the ventilation message] not getting nearly enough traction because it costs money,” she said.

“It will cost money for every single building to go back and ensure it can do 3 litres per person per second and that is an enormous undertaking.

“They can do it in a hospital and some of the older-style hospitals are now being required to improve their airflow: they’re becoming woke to the importance of this.”

We are doing the equivalent of learning in the 19th century how important it was to wash your hands. It’s that level of discovery.

Dr. David Berger, General Practioner,

The Victorian Health Department’s Building Authority has commissioned engineering assessments of the HVAC systems

within wards dedicated to suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients at 20 hospital sites over the coming weeks.

Some countries are already taking substantial action, with Germany recently investing 500 million euros to improve ventilation systems in public buildings.

But while assessing the ventilation of our built environment could be costly, Dr Berger said it could pay dividends beyond COVID-19.

“But what it does mean is that [if we do nothing about ventilation] we are at risk of this virus and we will not have a defence against the next.”

“We are doing the equivalent of learning in the 19th century how important it was to wash your hands. It’s that level of discovery”.

Reproduced by permission of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Library Sales Emily Bourke © 2020 ABC

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Dreaming of a sustainable Christmas: How to reduce your

ecological footprint this festive season Donations A gift in the form of a donation to a worthy cause, perhaps a charity witha focus on the environment, is the most sustainable gift you can give.

A donation can protect the environment, promote health, support local businesses and employment, protect workers, and promote animal welfare.

Experiences rather than ‘things’ Do you and your loved ones really need more ‘things’? Many of us have far more than we need, and when we really want something, we simply buy it for ourselves.

Gifting an experience such as a massage, a cooking course, a yoga class, or dinner, is an excellent way to end the cycle of accumulating things.

Give ‘Battery-Free’ Gifts

Green Toys

According to the EPA, about 40% of all battery sales occur during the holiday season. Discarded batteries are an environmental hazard. Even rechargeable batteries find their way into the waste stream eventually.

There are a range of children’s toys constructed from durable recycled plastic and other environmentally friendly materials.

Also, if you have young kids and you haven’t heard of button batteries, they need to be on your radar. Button batteries are small and very powerful.

To kids, they might look like lollies or coins, and can be very easily swallowed or put up a nose or in an ear.

These recycled plastic toys are safe and innovative toys crafted with old world style, colour and fun.

Whilst many worry about the choking risk, because of their shape, they are more likely to lodge in the oesophagus (the tube that connects your mouth to your stomach). Once inside the body, button batteries can cause serious burns, leading to severe injuries and even death.

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Find Alternatives to Wrapping Paper You can use old newspapers, magazines, children’s artwork (grandparents will love this), or last year’s wrapping paper perhaps, even old linen. Gift bags can be reused time and time again.

However, if people are receiving gifts that have paper wrapping, then just remember you can either reuse it next year or make sure you recycle it in your kerbside bin.

Wrapping paper can be recycled, but plastic cellophane or metallic wrapping has to go to landfill, as does tinsel.

Make Homemade Cards

Choose a Live Tree Although plastic Christmas trees are reusable from year to year, real trees are the more sustainable choice. Live trees, are a renewable resource grown on tree farms, that are replanted regularly. They contribute to air quality while growing, and almost ninety percent are recycled into mulch. Live trees are usually locally grown and sold, saving both transportation costs and added air pollution. Live trees also smell like Christmas!

When buying a live tree, consider: • Live potted trees can be used for years. If you buy a small tree in a large pot, you may be able to reuse the tree for 2- 3 years without having to plant or repot the tree.

Store-bought Christmas cards are rich, elegant, and expensive. They also consume a huge amount of natural resources for a throw-away item.

• Re-pot the tree for longer use. If your tree becomes root-bound, you can replant it in a larger pot for several years extended use.

Homemade cards may not be as professional, but they are more personal and even more appreciated.

Making the cards is also a fun activity for the family during the weeks before Christmas.

• Replant the tree when it becomes too large for your holiday tree. If you have the space, of course, replanting the tree outdoors is an option. Be sure to anticipate the full-grown size of the tree, and avoid planting near foundations or underground services.

A great idea for received cards is to make a keepsake artwork, cut the received cards in different shapes, and create a nice colourful Christmas artwork.

• Chip and mulch the tree. Many communities now have free chipping services. This is useful since the chips are used as mulch for municipal landscaping or sold at low cost to gardeners. This chipped material makes an excellent mulch for your shrub beds and garden pathways.

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Wellness First

t e g o t w o h â&#x20AC;&#x201C; s u a e Plat o t n i d n a k c u t s e h out of t ! k c u t s n the u

We have all experienced it: that initial burst of progress any time w are starting something new, then, what seems like a potential lifetim of being stuck at the same level.

Plateaus happen to everyone. No matter what level you are starting at, you will experience a plateau at some point. While plateaus are never fun, they are a normal, albe frustrating, part of getting better at anything. When you reach a plateau, I have found it really helpful to acknowledge it (and not beat yourself up about it!), then re-evaluate where you are in your journey.

Leading into the busy/silly season we often experience this even mor often because we are not resting or recovering as much as we could or should, and our body will let us know. As you would have heard m say before, we need to learn to list to our body and take note of what is telling us.

Here are three quick tips for you t consider:

Mitch Mullooly Health and Wellness Strategist Specialising in the wellbeing of first responders, Mitch is the Chair of the Australasian College of Paramedicine, Aotearoa New Zealand; Council member of Te Kaunihera Manapou, New Zealand Paramedic Council; Advisory Committee member for Te Kiwi Maia, The Courageous Kiwi; and proud CAA2020 Women in Ambulance honour recipient.

Mitch is also a published author, speaker and feature columnist for several sector related magazines, blogs, webinars, and podcasts.

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Training too little or too much can cause plateaus

Seek additional knowledge or a coach to help

Next time you realise you have plateaued, first ask yourself whether you need to adjust your training level or frequency. Not training intensely or frequently enough can cause plateaus, as can overtraining.

If you are experiencing a plateau, consider the possibility that you have reached the highest level you are capable of getting to on your own and that you need extra assistance to help you push past it.

Finding a balance between consistently working hard and getting enough rest to let your body recover is something only you can determine. Learn to listen to your body and understand the signals of when you should push harder or, give yourself a break.

I’ve experienced this countless times with my own journey, despite being a coach! After feeling frustrated on my own, I acknowledge when I have reached the limits of my own expertise and skill level and need to increase my knowledge or seek outside help to continue making steady progress.

1

Be completely honest with yourself - have you been challenging yourself consistently, or are there areas where you could push harder? I don’t recommend going all-out in training every single day, but make sure you are spending at least a couple of workouts per week working above your comfort level.

If you have been training hard lately, try taking a few days off and doing something completely unrelated. If your goal is to run a half marathon, but your last few training runs just left you feeling frustrated and frazzled then go for a nice bush walk, head out for a surf, or jump into a flexibility or pilates class instead.

The purpose here is to let all your hard work sink in while your mind is occupied doing something else.

More often than not, you will find you return from these ‘mini-breaks’ feeling more refreshed and getting past that point of frustration with ease.

2

Luckily, in this day and age, there are a multitude of ways to find additional knowledge and help.

That’s the reason I developed Eat|Train|Be - Fit for Duty, an online community, to help people just like you, with the knowledge and understanding of being just where you are now, to help you overcome the physical and psychological fatigue often associated with the work that we do.

It is also helpful to remember that what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another, and this is where coaching comes into its own. A client-centred coach will integrate their knowledge with their client’s goals, needs, and preferences.

Working with various coaches has been one of the highlights of my journey so far; I have learned so much and have become disciplined at developing my skill set and expertise in the process. If you have the opportunity to work with a coach, I highly recommend it.

Personally, I wouldn’t be without a coach and mentor anymore!

So, keep experimenting, finding new resources, and working with different people until you find the right fit. My one suggestion though, don’t go grasping on to something that promises fast results with minimal effort, as the old adage goes – if it sounds too good to be true, then… well, you know the rest!

3

Trust the process

We often forget that getting better at something doesn’t mean making constant progress. Instead, the path to long-term progress or mastery involves sporadic breakthroughs followed by long periods of plateaus.

Just like we need to accept that struggle is part of the process, we need to also realise that plateaus aren’t something to fear, they are part of the process of growth.

If you feel you have reached a plateau, it may be that this is exactly where you need to be at this current time, so that you can reflect on your recent progress. This is the reason why learning to trust the process is so important, and beyond trusting the process, learning to love the process itself is essential.

When you embrace the long-term journey of achieving your goals, you can actually begin to enjoy the ups and the downs, rather than focusing only on the outcome. It’s part of the journey to learn when a plateau is the right place to be and when it’s time to push beyond it. After all, if you want to make progress, you can’t stay on a plateau forever.

In the wise words of Bruce Lee - “If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

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15-17 July 2021

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