FIRST by CAA | Issue 11 2022

I always feel a bit guilty for being the cheerful Christmas happy person, i'm the one who counts down to Christmas and starts announcing in September that Christmas is only 100 days away. But hey, we all have our faults .

In all seriousness, it has been a long year. Looking back to 2022, our team has achieved and delivered so much. It's no wonder we are ready for the Christmas break. From returning back to travel and in-person meetings, delivering a mammoth Congress, launching the national Save Triple Zero (000) for Emergencies campaign, setting up the CAA Women in Leadership Scholarship, delivering live Restart a Heart events, celebrating our 60th Anniversary and putting together the next 5-year CAA Strategy. Yes, a break will be very welcomed.

Our summer issue celebrates all things CAA. We wanted to highlight the wonderful work of everyone who has been a part of CAA over the last 60 years. We are grateful to our member services for their support and to individuals, too many to name, who have played a part in CAA. Rest assured, we won’t sleep on our laurels. As we speak, the team is planning to deliver even bigger things in the next six decades.

Restart a Heart Day has now fully become Restart a Heart month, and we are thrilled to have been able to organise live events, educating the public on out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the importance of knowing CPR and how to use an AED. We have much work to do in this space, and we know that with every event, social media post, video, and media piece, the awareness around cardiac arrest and survival rates keep improving.

In our Services First section we get to reflect on the Bali bombings with our St John WA friends. Even 20 years on, those memories are still raw. Our partners AACE and IRCP share a recap from their successful conferences held in September, with hopes that more of our teams will be able to join them next year in person.

And we look toward 2023, with bright eyes (those Christmas lights are mighty bright in my house) and hope.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Love xx

Mojca

The Council of Ambulance Authorities

1962 - 2022

OurJourney

For the past 60 years, The Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) has been facilitating fundamental collaboration in and beyond the Australasian prehospital sector. From working with telecommunications companies to making Triple Zero (000) the common number to be called for emergencies around Australia, to introducing national specifications for ambulances, we’ve facilitated change and transformation that has turned the sector into what it is today.

As the importance of CAA grew, so did our impact. The past 60 years has taken us on a journey like no other. We invite you to take a look back and reflect on our milestones and all that we have accomplished with our members, partners, and colleagues over the years.

Here’s to what another 60 years may bring.

1962: The First Meeting

Friday, December 4, 1962, marked the inaugural convention in Canberra, led by Bill Kelly, Secretary/Superintendent of the New South Wales Ambulance Service. This first Convention would transform over the years to become the CAA that most are

1974: New Zealand Attends Convention for First Time

New Zealand ambulance services arrived at the Convention for the very first time.

1977: Triple Zero (000)

In 1977, CAA commenced work on securing Triple Zero (000) as the universal number that Australians could ring, no matter which state, territory, or how remotely they were located. It was a combination of CAA’s persistence, the continuing advancement of computer technology, and the good will of Telecom that Triple Zero (000) came into effect.

Looking back at ambulance services 60 years ago, there was no standardisation, staff didn't have training, and vehicles were used solely to deliver the sick and injured to the hospital without any medical intervention along the way. What a change this is from where the ambulance sector is at now, but how did it happen?

1986: Papua New Guinea Attends Convention for First Time

Mr Graeme Keake represents Papua New Guinea at the Convention for the first time.

1982: The Introduction and Adoption of Standardised Training

With the encouragement of CAA, the National Education Committee was created, leading to the beginning of standardisation and higher quality training from 1982.

1992: Introduction of National Specifications for Ambulances

CAA formed a vehicle design subcommittee to regularly discuss and debate issues and updates in technology to make vehicle design recommendations, leading to the introduction of national specifications for Ambulances in 1992.

1998: Ambulance Data Included in ROGS

Ambulance data was included as a part of the Report on Government Services (ROGS) run by the Australian Federal Government’s Productivity Commission for the first time in 1998. CAA worked on behalf of services to collate and liaise to contribute data to the productivity commission.

2002:

First CAA Staff Appointed

CAA becomes an incorporated organisation and appoints first staff.

2002: Patient Experience Survey

CAA introduced the Patient Satisfaction Survey, as it was called then, in Australia in 2002. New Zealand took on the initiative in 2007 and Papua New Guinea in 2020.

2007: Awards for Excellence

CAA introduced the Awards for Excellence to provide inspiration to encourage and enable services to learn from each other and contribute to bettering the ambulance sector.

2008: Paramedic Education Programs become consistent

In 2004, CAA hosted an education Symposium attended by ambulance jurisdictions and tertiary institutions at which it was agreed that a process of evaluation of paramedic education programs was essential. A twostage project was developed and by 2008, resulted in the granting of provisional accreditation to a number of Australian universities.

2017: Restart a Heart

CAA launches the Australasian response to World Restart a Heart Day.

2018: CAA Strategies

The bulk of CAA strategies launch. The strategies further positioned

CAA as a peak body with a strong direction and a trusted ability to bring the pre-hospital sector together.

2018: Australian Paramedic Registration

On 1 December 2018, a milestone for the paramedicine profession occurred. Paramedicine became the 16th registered health profession in Australia to be regulated under the NRAS since 2012, following the commencement of NRAS in 2010.

2020: New Zealand Paramedic Registration

New Zealand Paramedic Registration was formed shortly after registration was introduced into Australia.

2020: COVID-19 Support

During the pandemic, CAA worked quickly to bring together members to tap into their experiences and plans in order to exchange critical solutions across the Australasian ambulance sector.

2022: Sixty years of CAA

CAA celebrates its 60th anniversary. Through groundbreaking news, milestone achievements and innovative programs, CAA and member services continue to play a significant role in paving the bright and refined path to the pre-hospital sector as it is today.

Industry News

Ambulance Victoria's Virtual Emergency Department Now Active

Ambulance Victoria is now using Victoria’s virtual emergency department to provide better care for elderly residents living in aged care facilities. The Residential Aged Care Enhanced Response (RACER) alternative care pathway will better connect and coordinate Triple Zero (000) calls from residential aged care facilities. Currently, with over 90 percent of calls from residential aged care facilities that receive an ambulance response result in the patient attending an emergency department, which is often unnecessary.

NSW Ambulance Invest in New Technology

Health Minister Brad Hazzard, Dr Dominic Morgan, Dr Brian Burns, Marty Nichols, and Michelle Jordan announced that patients will benefit from a state-wide rollout of world-class technology and equipment in NSW ambulances worth more than $55 million which will help paramedics and specialist clinicians provide even faster, better cardiac care. The package will equip ambulances with an additional 550 mechanical cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) Lucas devices, 1,400 state-of-the-art ECG/defibrillation devices, and a new cardiac notification platform that will improve communication between NSW Ambulance and emergency departments.

St John WA Appoints First Group CEO

St John WA has appointed its first Group Chief Executive Officer, Kevin Brown, who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Perth Airport following an extensive global search resulting in a strong applicant pool. He will join St John in January 2023. In addition, leading strategist and Olympian Sally Carbon OAM is expected to be appointed Board Chair in October from her current role of Deputy Chair, marking renewed leadership and vision for St John.

Tony Walker Finishes Up Roles at CAA and Ambulance Victoria

After many years of service, Tony Walker has finished up in his role of CEO of Ambulance Victoria, as well as his position of CAA Board Chair. We recognise Tony for the incredible contributions he has made to the Australasian pre-hospital sector over the last 37 years and wish him the best of luck for the future.

Australian Paramedical College Announces Scholarship for St John WA Volunteers

With the demand for qualified medics and paramedics in WA due to increase over the next 5 years, regional St John WA Volunteer Ambulance Officers now have the opportunity to apply for one of six full scholarships to attain a Diploma of Emergency Health Care with Australian Paramedical College (APC). The Diploma of Emergency Health Care offers a pathway into paid work in the pre-hospital care industry as well as facilitating entry into Bachelor degree programs in paramedicine across Australia.

Hato Hone St John Mental Health in Construction Trial Success

Hato Hone St John joined forces with Site Safe to redesign the standard mental health first aid course to produce an additional offering that focuses specifically on mental health challenges in the construction industry. Following successful 2021 trials in Auckland and Wellington, the Mental Health First Aid in Construction course was launched to the rest of the country, with most taking place in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

NSW Ambulance Introduce

GoodSAM App

People experiencing a cardiac arrest will now have a greater chance of survival thanks to NSW Ambulance’s partnership with the smartphone app GoodSAM. The app will be integrated with the Triple Zero (000) system so when paramedics are dispatched, first responders located near the arrest are also notified, allowing CPR and defibrillation to start before paramedics arrive.

Airborne Lightweight CT Scanners Under Development

by The Australian Stroke Alliance

The Australian Stroke Alliance has been featured in AirMed&Rescue, a publication “dedicated to the international airborne special missions community.” The article reports on how the ground-breaking new airborne lightweight CT scanners are under competitive development by the Australian Stroke Alliance and how the innovative approach promises a leap forward in how stroke is diagnosed and treated in a pre-hospital setting.

At CAA, no quarter is a quiet quarter, and as many organisations wind down for the end of the year, we continue to strive for growth and innovation in our industry.

For two years, we navigated unprecedented times by making everything digitally accessible, and while we got pretty good at it, it was great to end a year where we got to see each other’s faces in-person and not just as pixels on a screen. The Council of Ambulance Authorities has had a year of growth in every way.

This year was once again a big year for the Committees, Forums, and Working Groups of CAA. The year has allowed for the collaboration and sharing of information on a variety of topics, which particularly towards the beginning of the year had been monopolised by conversations about COVID-19. Whilst COVID-19 is not going anywhere at the moment and will continue to influence the work of the CAA groups, it has been great to be able to finally move forward on other projects.

2022 saw the need for CAA to launch the national public campaign within Australia 'Save Triple Zero (000)', to help teach the public about what constitutes a triple zero call which would ultimately assist in lowering demand.

CAA Congress went ahead in Sydney after two years of postponing with over 400 of us gathering to learn and network in what was a successful event.

The Restart a Heart campaign continued to spread awareness of CPR and AED use to the public with a wide range of in-person events at high profile locations. We have then been able to conclude the year by celebrating 60 years of our organisation with a celebratory Gala in Canberra.

Yearly campaigns communicated key messages to the ambulance community with the Infection Control working group collaborating with the CAA Secretariat to create new materials highlighting three zones in various locations of the ambulance journey that are crucial for good hand hygiene.

NSW organisation ‘Everymind’ reached out and partnered with us for the ‘ME First’ campaign to bring informative social media posts and newsletters in September and the following months to our audience on how to look after their mental health and wellbeing. Board members and senior leaders in member services recorded videos sharing what mental health and wellbeing means to them personally in their position as leaders. The Sustainable Ambulance campaign continued to share how our sector can make positive changes toward environmentally preserving our future.

At CAA, no quarter is a quiet quarter, and as many organisations wind down for the end of the year, we continue to strive for growth and innovation in our industry. Before the year is up CAA will release its 2023-2027 Strategy to shape the next five years. With a focus on the key pillars of Advocacy, Knowledge & Information, and Learning & Development we look forward to sharing this strategy with you all and expanding on our direction for the future.

We are excited to be seeing nominations for the 2023 Women in Ambulance Awards coming through, and hearing the stories of incredible women. Entries for the 2023 Awards for Excellence are also being pieced together with wonderful innovations and projects being presented.

2022 Women in Ambulance Survey

Responses have been gathered for the biannual 2022 Women in Ambulance Survey. Data is now ready for review and reporting, with the report set for release in March 2023.

The survey was established to provide an opportunity for all women within CAA member services to give important, confidential feedback to assist in providing direction to the Australasian pre-hospital sector.

The survey is a part of CAA’s overall Women in Ambulance strategy which outlines CAA’s dedication to improving gender balance across ambulance sectors in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. It works on delivering outlaid commitments in the Women in Ambulance Strategy by 2025 by actively providing a forum for discussion and seeking solutions to current challenges.

The survey asks for feedback, comments, and opinions on the challenges and opportunities women have encountered whilst working within the ambulance sector. Data from our 2020 report interestingly showed that the top 3 challenges faced when pursuing career goals were: having opportunities for promotion, dealing with unconscious bias, and self-doubt. The previous survey also found that the two lowest job titles of female to male are Executives and Management –Operational Managers.

The 2020 Women in Leadership Survey Report is available on the CAA website at: https://www.caa.net.au/caa-reports

CAA 60th ANNIV

On the 17th of November, Ambulance industry personnel from all corners of Australasia gathered at the National Arboretum in Canberra for the CAA 60th Anniversary Gala.

VERSARY GALA

The Gala provided a wonderful opportunity for us to come together as colleagues, partners, and friends, and look at just how far the Australasian Ambulance sector has come. Allowing us to reflect on every milestone, achievement, and groundbreaking innovation.

Upon arrival, guests immaculately dressed in black-tie attire walked the red carpet into a world-class venue, that was decked out to be both reflective and worthy of all the incredible people that work tirelessly to elevate the pre-hospital sector.

Before the sun went down, guests had the chance to wander through a one-of-a-kind bonsai tree garden and explore some old-world ambulance memorabilia.

The Temora Ambulance Museum quite literally made the journey back through time possible by showing off some old and retro relics at the Gala that truly put in perspective just how far the sector has come.

With everything from wheel and cart stretchers to some very nifty old uniforms, the Museum piqued our curiosity as to what it may have been like to ride, or work in an Ambulance many decades ago.

As attendees slowly filled the Arboretum, our wonderful MC, Casey Beros, kicked off the celebrations by welcoming the CAA Board to present speeches on the last six decades. The Board captured attendees’ attention with some powerful stories focussing on the past 60 years. Each Board member focused on a different decade and delivered powerful, thought-provoking and often humorous speeches that (we’re almost certain) the sector won’t forget for years to come.

It was a joy to see our guests reminiscing, laughing, looking back, and connecting their own experiences to the Board’s speeches. We were amused, nostalgic and humbled, as we realised the challenges and fights paramedics and ambulance personnel took on with poise and determination in the earlier years to turn the Ambulance sector into what it is today.

As celebrations continued, CAA presented a handful of very special awards and made some exciting announcements. Hand-blown, one-of-a-kind glass recognition awards were presented to our long-term sponsors, including one of our Gala sponsors, SDSI, some who have supported CAA for over 15 years. CAA are incredibly thankful for the continued and dedicated commitment that our sponsors have shown to our organisation over the decades which has helped to make some of our greatest achievements feasible.

The unveiling of the new CAA logo also created excitement for our guests over dinner. As the new logo was unveiled CAA GeneralManager, Mojca Bizjak-Mikic, discussed our strategy and future scope of the organisation.

A live auction helped to conclude the night with prizes coming in all shapes and forms, from a quirky Airstream Stay in Melbourne's CBD to an exceptionally special Government House Christmas Ornament donated by Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, wife of His Excellency General of the Honourable David John Hurley AC DSC (Retd).

As the live auction continued, the silent auction was in it's final moments, with guests quickly placing their last bids to secure their favourite items.

We sincerely thank everyone who donated items and who took part in both the silent and live auctions. As a not-for-profit, contributions are crucial to CAA’s ability to continue to provide our programs, resources, and campaigns to the pre-hospital sector. 100% of the proceeds from the silent and live auctions will go towards ensuring CAA are able to continue to drive and elevate the Australasian Ambulance industry.

Before the night was over, attendees were gifted with a commemorative, hard-cover book that tells the exciting story of the evolution of the The Council of Ambulance Authorities over the last 60 years.

Filled with incredible rescue stories, industry-changing milestones, and world-renowned achievements, we invited our guests to delve into the pages of this unique book and join CAA as we journeyed back through time. The keepsake was the icing on the cake, with guests leaving the night thrilled to have something that they would be able to take home and cherish that captured the essence of the evening.

CAA are so incredibly grateful to have been able to deliver a night of celebration in a stunning location, surrounded by colleagues, friends, and family. The past 60 years has truly taken us on a journey like no other, and we could not have achieved all that we have without our partners, sponsors, and member services dedicatedly by our side. Thank you to all who joined us for a glamorous night that won’t be forgotten by the Australasian Ambulance sector for years to come.

CALL. PUSH. SHOCK.

The Restart a Heart campaign is behind the simple yet effective CALL. PUSH. SHOCK. message. The campaign is designed to bring attention to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, the horrifying statistics that come with it, and the simple three steps you can take to help save a life.

In Australia and New Zealand alone, approximately 34,000 individuals will suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest every year, and 9 in 10 of these won’t survive. This awful statistic is one that sticks with you and drives you to educate yourself and others. With these simple 3 steps, it’s so easy to help increase the survival statistics.

All you have to do is:

CALL – Call your emergency number (000 AUS / 111 NZ)

PUSH – Start CPR compressions

SHOCK – Locate and use your nearest AED

Each year The Council of Ambulance Authorities, its member services, and supporting partners find ways to help spread awareness. This year we saw people posting on social media, purchasing Restart a Heart merchandise and Heartly Bears, hosting their own educational events, and participating in the #9for9challenge.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to help share the Restart a Heart message. Please continue to inform and educate others throughout the year.

Learn more at restartaheart.net

The three important actions that can help you save the life of a family member, colleague, or stranger.

AN OUT-O F-HOSPITAL

Teaching our communities how to Restart a Heart

By The Council of Ambulance Authorities

Our first live event for the year saw us partnering with Build-a-Bear, the creators of Heartly, the Restart a Heart Bear.

With a handful of locations across Australia, the Build-a-Bear team and CAA team joined forces to raise awareness across the country.

This year the Restart a Heart events went further than they ever have before. In almost every state and territory in Australia and New Zealand, the public had the opportunity to join us at our events to learn how to save a life in 3 simple steps. CALL. PUSH. SHOCK.

The events were a huge hit, with CAA partners and paramedic volunteers helping out on the night. The stores drew large crowds that gathered to learn about Restart a Heart and have a go at practicing CPR.

The kids were given an opportunity to buy their own Heartly the Restart a Heart Bear to take home to help continue the conversation around CALL. PUSH. SHOCK with their friends and family.

With up to 80% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests happening within

the home, it was essential to us that we speak to families with kids, who even by knowing how to call their emergency number, are one step closer to helping save a life.

Our remaining Restart a Heart events took place all over Australia and New Zealand, including places like Adelaide, Christchurch, and Wellington. Events were held in all sorts of places including in shopping malls, on beaches, and in airports.

With giveaways of stickers, stress ball hearts, temporary tattoos, and magnets, everyone was able to participate and remember the Restart a Heart message long after they had gone home.

Bystanders were not shy to get involved in a quick lesson of CPR and AED use. Short demonstrations helped break down stigma and allowed passers by to openly ask questions about the process that they otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to ask.

With many people commenting on how much easier it is to help Restart a Heart than they thought, it was obvious that these quick tutorials were going to be lifesaving, and ultimately, would help us to improve the statistic that 9 in 10 people won’t survive an out-ofhospital cardiac arrest.

We would like to say a big thank you to our member ambulance services, ZOLL Medical, Laerdal, St John Ambulance, and our volunteer University Paramedic Students for their support at CAA Restart a Heart events.

We also thank those who went out of their way to host their own Restart a Heart events and share the Call. Push. Shock. message.

Keep an eye out on our socials for updates on the next Restart a Heart Day or go to restartaheart.net to learn more.

RestartHeartDay RestartHeartDay Restartaheart.day

Ambulance Victoria takes on Shocktober

By Ambulance Victoria

Shocktober is an annual month-long campaign aimed at improving cardiac survival rates, highlighting the importance of learning CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED).

After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, AV staff and volunteers were excited to engage with their communities face-to-face, holding sessions to teach the three simple steps to save a life: Call, Push, Shock - call Tripe Zero (000), start CPR, and use an AED.

The campaign was launched with the story of Mary who went into cardiac arrest at her local Coles while shopping. Quick-thinking staff called Triple Zero (000) and the call taker guided them through CPR. The staff members also used the store's AED to provide Mary with two shocks. Mary survived thanks to their actions. She was later reunited with her husband and children and thanked the staff who helped to save her life. Mary’s story was covered by Sunrise on Channel 7, spreading the Call, Push, Shock message Australia-wide.

Meanwhile, GoodSAM sisters Jess and Gabby from Maryborough – two of Victoria’s highest frequency GoodSAM responders – helped promote Shocktober across regional Victoria. During October, AV conducted more than 190 face-to-face engagement sessions across Victoria, highlighting the importance of early intervention and action to more than 6,000 community members. Sessions ranged from big community events and agricultural shows to smaller, intimate chats with Men’s Sheds, craft groups and mother's groups.

A Facebook live session and a GoodSAM Industry webinar reached more than 100 people online to teach the lifesaving skills of CPR and how to use an AED. These online sessions also encouraged community members to sign-up to GoodSAM, an app that connects people in cardiac arrest with those who can do CPR. More than 400 people signed up to the GoodSAM program in October.

Our partners strongly supported the Shocktober campaign online and through their networks. Australia Post partnered with AV to enable paramedics and volunteers to deliver Call, Push, Shock sessions to Australia Post’s staff at 37 local post offices and distribution centres across Victoria where an AED was on site.

Ambulance Victoria’s (AV) third Shocktober campaign has given thousands more Victorians the skills and confidence they need to step up and help save lives.

Taking a hands-on approach to Restart a Heart Day

By St John NT

St John NT was once again pleased to support the international awareness campaign regarding cardiac arrest and the importance of first responders knowing CPR for this year’s Restart a Heart Day.

The campaign included free first aid training courses, radio interviews, social media tips and public demonstrations in Darwin, Palmerston and Alice Springs. A business engagement activity at St John NT’s new retail store even included an impromptu lesson as guests were keen to learn more about CPR and how their own businesses could be better prepared.

Across all events the message was clear: how you respond in an emergency could mean the difference between life and death and with sudden cardiac arrest, the statistics are stacked against you.

Describing the atmosphere at Yeperenye Shopping Centre in Alice Springs, Manager of Operations Southern Alex Robinson said that the day really set the scene for some healthy competition as shoppers practiced compressions for the length of time directed by the automatic external defibrillators.

“This was a great opportunity to engage with new parents who were keen to practice CPR on one of our baby manikins and to get a feel for what they may be required to do in a real-life situation.”

This year, St John NT also partnered with Wizard Pharmacy to provide discounted CPR courses to pharmacy members who attended the event at Casuarina Square in Darwin. Pharmacist Manager Stanley Pang said “it was great to be able to offer our customers even more ways to look after their health. The day went well and brought people into our store from the event.”

Social media played a big part in the campaign as a way to share the important messaging. First aid training staff helped create video content demonstrating what to do in an emergency and offered free and discounted CPR courses throughout the month of October.

Supported by Heartly the Bear, at the NT Chamber of Commerce Business at Sunset event, St John NT Director Commercial Colin Southam reminded guests of the tragic survival rates to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, while demonstrating how easy it is for all of us to learn CPR. As conversations moved from business to first aid, many guests were keen to give it a go and lend a hand in making sure they and their teams were CPR trained.

The support received from community members was a great indication of the positive impact that the campaign had. The important messaging linked to the campaign has been taken to heart with most people having experienced situations in their lives relating to cardiac arrest.

The willingness to put up their hands and get involved is testament to the attitude of caring for one another and the great sense of community spirit that the NT is known for. St John NT hopes to see the campaign continue to grow and looks forward to participating in it again next year. It only takes two hands to save a life and having the skills and knowledge to provide CPR really can make all the difference.

Hato Hone St John Exceeds Target for Shocktober

By Hato Hone St John

Leveraging off Restart a Heart Day held on Sunday October 16, Hato Hone St John focused the whole month of October on CPR and AED training through its 3 Steps for Life programme.

“Shocktober has also led to some other amazing outcomes including attracting new volunteers, increasing awareness and engagement – and most of all, equipping people with the skills to make a life changing difference. I have no doubt lives will be saved from this campaign.”

Cardiac arrest remains one of the leading causes of death in Aotearoa New Zealand with more than 2000 people a year treated. Of those, only 25 percent survive hospital arrival and 11 percent leave hospital alive.

Sarah Manley, Hato Hone St John Deputy Chief Executive Community Health and Engagement, says she is delighted to announce that around 13,000 people completed the 3 Steps for Life training during Shocktober, marking it as an absolute success since it launched at the beginning of the month.

“To have reached 13,000 people, right across the country – and with some awesome partnership work along the way – has been incredible. So many of our people got involved internally too and that was brilliant.

Jacci Tatnell, Hato Hone St John Head of Community Education, agrees and says none of it would have been achieved without the amazing support from across the motu, including from the Warriors Foundation and Hato Hone St John partners; ASB, Spark and Z Energy.

“While it’s been a collaborative effort to promote and drive the campaign, the delivery of all this mahi (work) is because of our volunteer Community Educators,” Ms Tatnell says.

“A whopping number of sessions have been delivered by volunteers and without our volunteer workforce, this campaign would not be possible. So, from Hato Hone to our volunteers – a big thank you to all of you for your amazing work.”

Hato Hone St John has exceeded its target to empower 10,000 Kiwis with life-saving skills  in its first ever “Shocktober”.

“A huge congratulations to everyone involved. This is easily one of the most successful, visible and engaging campaigns we have run in Hato Hone St John for some time."

Shocktober key achievements

• Hato Hone St John trained around 13,000 people in the 3 Steps for Life programme

• 140 3 Steps for Life Sessions taught

• We trained our partners; ASB (21 sessions, 507 people), Z Energy (6 sessions, 226 people) & Spark NZ (5 sessions, 195 people)

• Trained the New Zealand Warriors Foundation

• 90 percent of sessions were delivered by Volunteer Community Educators

• We delivered public training events for the first time in two years in Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, Havelock North and Cambridge

• We delivered the programme to community groups and schools from Invercargill to Raglan and many places in between, including to the Greater Wellington Refugee and Migrant Support Services.

Connecting through our role as Councils

By Rob Webb, CEO Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council (AFAC)

Over the past few years, we have been met with novel challenges that have tested our practices and reframed our approach to our work. Navigating this environment with the values of collaboration and connection front of mind allows organisations such as AFAC and CAA to best serve our members, and through them, the community.

There is valuable insight to be gained by sharing local, state, national and international experiences, and facilitating this collaborative approach is the unique contribution that AFAC makes to the fire and emergency services sector in our role as the National Council.

The operational response is large-scale, and the recovery journey for impacted communities is often long-term. As with many other industries and aspects of the community, much of this activity has been overlayed by COVID-19 restrictions and considerations.

The hazards and emergency we prepare for, respond to, and recover from are not bound by borders, and neither should our knowledge, systems and resources.

One of the ways we achieve this is through our Collaboration Model, a network of over 30 groups who meet regularly through the year to address common challenges and reinforce shared goals. These groups comprise of dedicated specialists from across Australia and New Zealand – spanning knowledge areas such as community safety, predictive services, workforce management, collaborative procurement and research utilisation – and allow for diverse perspectives, expertise and experience at the table.

As the scale and intensity of natural hazards increase, and our society and systems grow more complex, interconnected and interdependent, it is detrimental –indeed dangerous – to progress our work in silos.

For AFAC and our Members working in the fire and emergency services, our transition from the devastating bushfires in 2019-20 season to the compounding and widespread flooding events we have seen this year has been significant.

By working together, the fire and emergency services sector has realised projects of national significance such as the new Australian Fire Danger Rating System, streamlined resources such as aircraft through the National Aerial Firefighting Centre, and boosted capacity during major incidents through the National Resource Sharing Centre.

As a National Council and an advocate for our Members, we see the benefits of taking this collaboration further, and broadening our horizons by looking beyond the fire and emergency services and approaching other sectors and industries to uncover efficiencies and find synergies.

AFAC has, and will continue to, work with CAA where we identify overlapping issues and priorities. A prime example is our collaborative effort to produce AFAC Doctrine, such as Emergency Medical Response. This guideline is one of many in our suite of Doctrine that provides evidence-based and nationally endorsed guidance for the emergency management sector.

Through engagement across sectors, we see that sometimes all it takes is one project, or one conversation, to build commonality across industries. I hope these connections continue to grow, evolve and be passed on through our networks across AFAC and CAA.

Given enough time to blossom, these connections can flourish beyond where we expect to overlap with each other, or what we would expect to collaborate on. Yes, it is logical for AFAC and CAA to collaborate on emergency medical response guidelines, but what can we share with each other from workplace wellbeing, diversity and inclusion or community resilience?

We may have more in common than the surface suggests. And building the connection allows us to ask the next question.

Mr Rob Webb is the Chief Executive Officer of AFAC, Australia and New Zealand’s National Council of Fire and Emergency Services.

AFAC seeks to amplify the collective capability and capacity of emergency management organisations. Through connection, collaboration, and innovation, they support members to advance the safety and resilience of communities.

Mr Webb is an experienced leader in the emergency management industry. A meteorologist, and formerly Deputy CEO at the Bureau of Meteorology, he built experience across multiple jurisdictions covering some of Australia’s most damaging natural disasters. Mr Webb specialised in extreme weather services and led the Bureau’s national weather, flood and climate forecast and warning operations.

Having spent a career working with state and territory emergency management authorities, Rob has forged strong partnerships at the local, state and Commonwealth level.

Rob Webb

Chief Executive Officer, AFAC

The Bali bombings –20 years on

From St John WA

On the night of October 12, 2002, three bombs were detonated in tourist hotspots, killing 202 people, including 88 Australians.

It was an unprecedented attack and with a shorter flight between Perth and Denpasar than most other Australian capital cities, WA became the evacuation destination for victims – many seriously injured.

That night St John swung into action, with both paramedic and volunteer personnel joining the WA response to the disaster.

St John was tasked with meeting casualties arriving on private charters or Australian Defence Force planes and ensure safe transport of those patients to hospital as soon as possible.

For those who were there on the day, the memory is still close. Judith Barker was one of 20 paramedics who, along with a small army of volunteers and a host of support staff, met the planes as they flew in from the devastated island paradise.

“When I initially walked into the back of the Hercules aircraft it was like entering a warzone,” Judith said.

This year marked two decades since the Bali bombings which changed the way Western Australia – and St John – responds to moments of crisis.

“The smell was overpowering and it’s something I will never forget; it was like a smack to the face.”

Judith recalled the mood among patients as “very sombre and subdued”.

“It was very quiet and a bit like everyone was in a daze,” she said.

Fellow paramedic Justine Morris was also on the tarmac in Perth following the bombings.

“You think something like this is never going to happen here, and then it happens,” she said.

“It was nothing any of us had ever seen before.”

Justine said the scene was overwhelming, but what affected her even more was the fact the bombings had been a deliberate attack on innocent people.

“I just felt intense anger on behalf of the victims,” she said.

“How can people do something like this to others?”

More than 30 of the patients flown to WA were admitted to Royal Perth Hospital, which paid tribute to the extraordinary efforts of hospital

staff and emergency first responders during this time, and highlighted the single-minded focus on the arrival, survival, and rehabilitation of every patient in their care with an exhibition – Remembering the Bali bombings, 20 years on.

Told through photographs from the hospital and the airport, alongside video testimonials from survivors, first responders, and emergency and burns medical staff, the exhibition reflects on the challenges the hospital faced in dealing with injuries of a magnitude and severity never experienced before.

“This underpinned the need for and importance of effective coordination of emergency health management capabilities,” he said.

Attending the opening of the exhibition along with Judith Barker and St John WA Acting CEO Antony Smithson, long-time Event Health Services volunteer – and former Volunteer of the Year - Don Atkins reflected on the huge undertaking that was the transportation of patients to hospital from the airport.

“They were some very long days,” Don said.

St John WA’s Head of Specialist Operations Joe Cuthbertson said a key finding in the wake of the massive rescue operation was “how St John worked with states and territories to assist in the distribution of patients to hospitals across Australia, particularly for the treatment of burns”.

“We didn’t know what we were dealing with at first.

“You just got in there and did what you could.”

** Judith Barker is now CEO at Royal Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia.

It illustrates how the event fundamentally changed the way Western Australian frontline services respond to mass-casualty incidents.

St John NT proudly launches Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan

From St John NT

In July 2022 St John NT proudly joined a network of more than 1,100 corporate, government and not-for-profit organisations that have made a formal commitment to reconciliation through the Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP) program officially launching their Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP).

The St John NT Reflect RAP has been endorsed by Reconciliation Australia and lays the foundations for workplace RAP initiatives as well as setting a framework through which St John NT can sustainably and strategically take meaningful action to advance reconciliation that aligns with the business objectives of the organisation.

Former CEO Judith Barker stated, “the launch of the Reconciliation Action Plan marks the first steps in our reconciliation journey.”

“The St John NT Executive Leadership Team and Board were unanimous in their support for a RAP and endorsed the establishment of a Reconciliation Working Group who were responsible for the development of the RAP project.”

St John NT staff and volunteers are dedicated and compassionate about the health and wellbeing of the people they serve. The organisation aims to build and strengthen relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders to create better opportunities and understanding for improved social and economic outcomes for all.

The artwork for the RAP was created by Gurindji artist, Sarrita King, and illustrates how St John NT contributes to the health and healing of the Northern Territory community through the work that they do.

Sarrita lives in Darwin where she spent most of her youth. The Northern Territory continues to be the source of much of her creative inspiration along with the stories her father, the late, William King Jungala, shared with her.

Describing the inspiration behind the artwork Sarrita explained that the artwork brought together all the values, goals and ethos behind the St John NT philosophy.

“I have created this piece to depict the wonderful work that St John NT does in the community, to depict their commitment and dedication to the communities in which they serve, both remote and inner city.”

“The footprint of the artwork is based on my art series, Language of the Earth, this creates an ongoing circle, symbolic of community. Through the various bands expanding I used imagery of people, connection, health, and growth. With these elements spread across the artwork, you get a sense of coming together in the combined hope of ongoing health and healing. St John NT is an integral part of our community and with this artwork I hope that people can feel the connection they are delivering daily to our most vulnerable and those in need across our vast Territory,” she said.

The Reflect RAP will lay the foundations for St John NT, priming the organisation as a workplace for future RAPs and reconciliation initiatives. This Reflect RAP enables St John NT to deepen its understanding of the organisation’s sphere of influence and the unique contribution it can make to lead progress.

With over 70 years’ experience in the Northern Territory, St John NT understands the challenges in delivering services across the Territory. The vast distances, tropical and desert environments as well as high levels of social disadvantage present a unique set of conditions which require a unique response. St John NT takes the commitment towards reconciliation very seriously and is dedicated to taking the steps necessary to achieve the outcomes set out in the RAP.

In the photos are Gurindji artist Sarrita King and her family, former St John NT CEO Judith Barker, and Larrakia Elder Richard Fejo.

New National Ambulance Operations Centre for Papua New Guinea

From St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea

The St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea Council is delighted to announce the official opening of their new emergency ambulance operations centre in Port Moresby. The new centre is an initiative of the National Government in partnership with St John Ambulance to coordinate emergency ambulances in Papua New Guinea.

The new Centre provides the service with a muchimproved ability to coordinate ambulance services around Papua New Guinea - a country of over 10 million people.. The new Centre more than doubles the number of call-taker and dispatcher desks, meaning

the centre has a theoretical capacity to support some 120 ambulances and ten flight medical teams at any one-time around Papua New Guinea, saving lives and helping people access healthcare.

The new National Ambulance Operations Centre includes technologies that ensure efficiency and resilience of operations, even in the harshest of conditions. These include:

1. Uninterruptable power supply battery for the building supported by a backup generator 2. Backup water 3. Skerric’s Responder.One Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) system 4. Radios operating on LTE, HF, VHF and satellite platforms

5. Two Aeromedical dispatch desks, five ambulance dispatch desks 6. Six call-taker desks; six phone operator desks 7. Duty commander desk and NAOC director office

8. Conference room with video link and interactive display

The centre was an initiative funded by the Department of the Prime Minister and National Executive Council, supported by State Owned Enterprise. The Australian Government supported a significant upgrade of radiodata communications systems including a hybrid of Motorola LTE and VHF and CAD ICT systems. The New Zealand Government and United Nations Development Program supported the supply and installation of Barrett digital HF radios for rural ambulances.

In support of St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister James Marape said

My department is also supporting the review of the outdated legislation to incorporate new amendments that would bring changes to the way St John Ambulance Service would deliver their services in PNG. The amendment is coordinated together with St John Ambulance Service and the Department of Justice and Attorney General (DJAG).”

Prime Minister Marape said the intention is for the revised law to ensure St John Ambulance Service is mandated to perform specialist functions and responsibilities, for instance, to allow them to recruit retrieval emergency medical technicians to be able to provide high quality and administer emergency services during emergency situations to save lives of the communities.

St John Ambulance Chair, Dame Jean Kekedo, said “we were delighted to host the Minister for Health, Minister Asisting the Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister, as well as the Chief Justice, Chief Secretary, and other senior government officials.

“St John Ambulance Service will be allocated increased budgetary support in 2023 to support their key corporate objectives as outlined in the strategic plans.

Awards First

2022 CAA Women in Leadership Scholarship Winner

Interview with Marinda Thomas

Q1. Tell us about yourself. What is your current role, organisation, and how long have you worked within the service?

I am currently a Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Advisor in the Queensland Ambulance Service’s Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Unit in the Office of the Commissioner. I have worked for QAS for 21 years in various operational and non-operational positions. In the last 14 years, I have been in and out of Triple Zero Operations Centres as a call taker, dispatcher and various supervisory positions.

Q2. Why did you apply for the Women in Leadership Scholarship?

I felt I like I was just “treading water” in my current position, and I didn’t know how to shift my mind-set. The Scholarship provided a unique opportunity to undertake a different type of coaching and mentoring from an expert outside of the ambulance sector.

Q3. What do you feel the Women in Leadership scholarship achieves and how do you believe it can help women in the future?

The Women in Leadership scholarship enables women in ambulance access to opportunities to assist career and personal growth and development. I believe one of the barriers for progression is personal mind-set and entrenched behaviour. The Women in Leadership Scholarship with Total Coaching Academy provides one-onone coaching support to challenge yourself - your beliefs, your goals, your aspirations and what makes you happy. This in turn builds confidence and you bring your authentic self to every interaction. Then there is no stopping you!

Q4. What skills and/or knowledge do you hope to obtain through the leadership course with Total Coaching Academy?

I am a proud Birri Gubba, Gungalu woman and the co-Chair of the QAS’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Committee. I am excited about improving my coaching and mentoring skills to better support other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in their career advancement in QAS.

Q5. What are some core things you’ve learnt since beginning the course?

Since winning the Scholarship, I have commenced my new role in the Cultural Safety Unit. During my first session with Julie, it dawned on me how happy and excited I was for the future both personally and professionally. I, like most people, have a tendency to focus on what isn’t going well and pour all my energy into “fixing” that. Julie has helped me to flip that around and celebrate the good things as the priority. This change of mindset has me being more positive at work, which has flowed onto my colleagues.

Q6. What can both women and men do in your organisation to support female co-workers?

I feel the best way to support female co-workers is to provide encouragement. I often hear “but I can’t”, I have learnt to say “but what if you could” –If you could, how would it look for you – a simple statement to change a mindset from a negative response.

Q7. What advice would you give to young women entering the pre-hospital sector?

Take every opportunity offered to you, even if it means a pay-cut or an unsociable roster – every opportunity is a learning curve that will build your tool kit. It still surprises me the skills I call upon from secondments that lasted two weeks, over others that I did for months.

Be realistic – advancement takes persistence, perseverance, and hard work. It took me 21 years to get my dream job and now I have it –contributing to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Agenda and influencing recruitment, policy and strategy for QAS.

It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down; it matters how many times you get back up – this shows your strength of character.

Marinda is currently a Senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Safety Advisor in the Office of the Commissioner at QAS. She commenced her career in the public service in 2001 with the former Department of Emergency Services and has held various Human Resource positions for the department, incorporating Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Fire and Rescue Service and Emergency Management Queensland.

Marinda is a proud Birri Gubba and Gungalu woman from Central Queensland. She is very passionate about the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and has contributed to this agenda for her entire career.

She believes by further developing her leadership capabilities, she can assist in developing, mentoring and encourage others to advance not only within QAS, but the broader ambulance community.

Marinda Thomas

Winner of the 2022 CAA Women in Leadership Scholarship

Insight into the 2022 CAA Awards for Excellence category winning project

CAA joined the 2022 Excellence in Clinical Practice winning team to learn more about the award-winning project - Clinical Hub Health Navigation Role Integration into SA Virtual Care Services - and what’s in store for the future.

Q1. Provide a quick recap of the project. What was the initial aim and end goal?

Over the last three years, SAAS Health Navigators have helped thousands of South Australians avoid hospital emergency departments by facilitating their referral to alternate care pathways.

These quiet achievers have played a pivotal role in SAAS’s integration of new care pathways by helping their fellow SAAS clinicians to refer patients to non-ED pathways.

The importance of their contribution has been highlighted by the central role that Health Navigators and the SAAS Clinical Hub have played in the establishment of the new SA Virtual Care Service over the last year.

Q2. What is the history of the Health Navigators and how did they come to play a central role in the integration of the Virtual Care Service?

SAAS created the Health Navigator role in 2019 as South Australia developed more care pathways to provide non-urgent ambulance patients with alternatives to a hospital emergency presentation.

In this context, the Health Navigator role was created to support SAAS clinicians to navigate unfamiliar referral processes and pathways.

As new pathways were developed, we realised that the expansion of new pathways was creating an information overload for our clinicians because the new services all had different operating hours and inclusion criteria that could vary from day to day depending on staffing.

SA Ambulance Service (SAAS):

At the same time, the new pathways were unaccustomed to dealing with ambulance clinicians and would sometimes decline referrals which could have been safely accepted.

We saw a need for a single point of contact, both for the SAAS clinicians and for triage staff on the new pathways.

Over the next few years, SAAS integrated over 15 new care pathways with the Health Navigators playing key roles at all stages from co-design to implementation.

Health Navigators are experienced paramedics so they can have a clinical discussion with an onroad SAAS crew, understand what’s happening with the patient, and then cross-reference with their knowledge of care pathways to find the most appropriate service for the patient.

The establishment of the SA Virtual Care Service in late 2021 was a significant development.

Instead of taking patients to a doctor, we can bring the doctor to the patient via a video call, and that’s been a massive change… but one that required significant changes in operating practice and mindset.

We recognised how important the Health Navigators would be in that change process and in building the relationship between SAAS and the VCS, so we made a decision to embed them with the VCS.

Health Navigators have been an important link between SAAS clinicians and the team at the VCS. They’ve helped build confidence and connection on both sides. Without the Health Navigators, it would have taken a lot longer to build the relationship.

Q3. Looking towards the future, what is the next step for this project?

We will continue to integrate with the SA Virtual Care Service, both from a technological and clinical perspective, and to work with other service providers as we integrate new care pathways. I think we’ll continue to see the expansion of non-ED services and that will provide SAAS clinicians and our patient with more options, and the Health Navigators will continue to have a pivotal role in our utilisation of those pathways.

SAAS Clinical Hub, Health Navigators and their integration into Virtual Care Service

Q4. What are some of the goals for Health Navigators?

Our ultimate goal is to develop closer integration of hospital and ambulance systems to help build more streamlined, patient-centred health systems.

Along the way, another goal is for the Health Navigators to ‘do themselves out of a job’ as new pathways are embedded.

That doesn’t mean do themselves out of a job altogether, but rather to evolve their role. For example, when a pathway is new to SAAS, the Health Navigators have a central role in helping our clinicians navigate unfamiliar territory and providing feedback to the health system about improvements.

But as we become accustomed to the new pathway and they get comfortable in dealing with ambulance clinicians, we’re able to transition to direct referrals from our crews and not need so much hands-on Health Navigator involvement with that specific pathway.

In the last year for example, we’ve made the transition to crew direct referrals with Priority Care Centres and the Hospital Avoidance and Supported Discharge Service.

And at the same time, we’ve brought on more new referral pathways where the Health Navigators’ expertise is needed to support our crews to arrange referrals.

That’s an important evolution process, not just for the Health Navigators but for SAAS more broadly.

Q5. What are the collateral benefits of a project like this?

As new pathways were developed, there were inevitable teething problems and the Health Navigators made an important contribution by collecting information and working with the pathways to fine-tune their services and practices to improve their capacity to accept SAAS patients.

Thinking more broadly, in recent years SAAS has made a cultural shift away from a ‘treat and transport’ mentality with the ED as the default destination, to an ‘assess and refer’ approach that is more proactive in considering non-ED care pathways. The Health Navigators have played a key role in that evolution.

At the end of the day, the most important benefit is for the patient, and Health Navigators are helping to navigate patients to the most appropriate care for their needs.

The Council of Ambulance Authorities

The Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) celebrates 60 years and takes a look at what the future holds

There is one aspect however that is unique to the ambulance sector, and that is the evolving change in role and position of ambulance services within the healthcare continuum.”

Howard Wren, CAA Board Chair

David Waters, CAA Chief Executive

CAA is continuously strategising the future through reflection of its rich history. We continue to work towards the ‘What’s next?’, ‘How can we do better?’ and ‘What challenges and opportunities do we need to be aware of?’

FIRST spoke with CAA Chief Executive, David Waters, who shared his thoughts on what is in store for the future of CAA. FIRST also spoke to CAA Board Chair and Chief Officer of ACT Ambulance Service, Howard Wren, to talk about how CAA can continue to support its member services in the future.

Sixty years of challenges, achievements and innovation have passed within the Australasian pre-hospital sector since statutory ambulance services began to officially collaborate in what is now known as The Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA).

David Waters

Chief Executive, The Council of Ambulance Authorities

CAA is celebrating a milestone of 60 years this year, what does the future of the organisation look like?

We've seen significant growth over the last few years. COVID showed us that we needed to be more flexible and agile in our ability to work with our members and we learned that our committees, forums, and working groups could work well in a virtual environment. This enabled better participation by services and more people to participate in the meetings.

If you look back over the last ten years, we have grown significantly from a relatively small office in Melbourne with just a few staff to a great office in Adelaide. We've had as many as 10 people working for us at the same time. I think Adelaide is a long-term location for CAA and it's great to have all the staff (apart from myself of course) in one office working together and being across all the different work programmes of the CAA.

We are about to launch our new strategy for the next five years - we have a more focused trajectory regarding our purpose as CAA, particularly in the role of advocacy on behalf of our member services in the ambulance sectors of Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.

As with any membership-based organisation, our greatest challenge going forward will be sustainable funding as we try to do more for our members in regard to providing them with valueadded services – obviously, the cost of doing so continues to increase. As such we have already and will continue to seek to diversify our sources of income.

What are the future opportunities CAA has to grow its reach and expand the organisational impact across industries?

Our future opportunities certainly include looking at our membership. Our membership is currently limited to the emergency service providers in each jurisdiction funded by the government. We do potentially have a wider role in the Pacific and Asia. We are keen to continue to work with our partners in the Pacific Islands and assist them in implementing standards similar to the standards we see in Australia and New Zealand.

We continue to have input into wider health related activities that are connected to the emergency ambulance service. In regard to this input, we will continue to work with the broader health sector in any way we can to assist in improving the interface between emergency ambulance and healthcare generally, both in hospital and in the primary healthcare setting. Our focus will always be regarding our members, with a patient centred focus. We want to establish a relationship between ambulance and healthcare that is as productive as possible to ensure patients receive seamless care.

I think transfer of care or ramping as it is sometimes referred to will continue to be a challenge for the sector. We need to continue to work with the wider health sector to look at solutions to reduce delays and to work with them to implement change. We need to better understand demand and access challenges in order to bring about change in systems to reduce the transfer of care delays we're currently seeing in hospitals.

In our role of providing a higher level of advocacy on behalf of our members, we will work more closely with the federal government. There is an opportunity for the CAA to produce the federal government with a conduit to ambulance sector challenges and opportunities. We see an opportunity to further act as an independent voice for the sector. We will continue to build our relationships with partners and associations in the emergency ambulance sector as there are many opportunities to work with a very broad range of organisations with common interests in emergency care, resuscitation, stroke care and many other areas such as sepsis and infection control. So, there is a lot of opportunity which we haven't fully explored yet.

We are keen to continue to expand the global reach of CAA, we have excellent relationships with our colleagues in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. We would like to have similar and strong relationships with our colleagues in much of Asia, particularly India, and other emerging ambulance services across Asia, such as China.

One of the areas that CAA has always been interested in is the area of paramedic education. Particularly in ensuring we have enough students coming through the system of the right calibre, with the right training and education to enable them to be excellent graduates and assimilate into the emergency ambulance service. We're continuing to work with our university colleagues in ensuring that the curriculum is kept up to

date and the voice of industry through our membership is heard regarding emerging clinical practice.

We are also keen to contribute to growing future leaders in the ambulance sector. During 2023, CAA will begin to develop a leadership programme that will assist emerging leaders to gain the necessary skills to apply for and successfully obtain leadership roles within the ambulance sector. We will also have a significant focus on equity and diversity by promoting practices that contribute to ensuring personnel have equal opportunities in advancing their careers within the ambulance sector.

CAA has been involved in the education of paramedics since its creation in the 1960s, what future role do you see us playing in this space?

I think, in 2023, we will see a greater desire for higher level qualifications within ambulance services being directly linked to higher level education such as postgraduate qualifications. We want to work with our partners in this space to ensure that postgraduate qualifications are subject to the same quality of standards and teaching that we see in the undergraduate programmes. To that end, we may look to develop an accreditation scheme for postgraduate qualifications to provide our CAA member services with a higher level of confidence regarding the quality of graduates completing those programmes.

Howard Wren

Board Chair, The Council of Ambulance Authorities Chief Officer, ACT Ambulance Service

What are the core areas in which CAA can look to support its ambulance sector members?

Over its 60-year history, CAA has developed to be uniquely positioned to support the ambulance sector. This support is in several areas critical to advance the sector and the paramedic profession generally, at a time of great change in the wider healthcare environment. These areas include:

Advocacy

• Being the unified Australasian voice. The ambulance sector has generally suffered from the fragmentation of a federated nation (at least in the case of Australia) and CAA represents a single point of contact to speak on behalf of the sector.

• Relationship building between government and ambulance services. There are emerging opportunities for CAA to engage with the Commonwealth Government to reinforce the value of the ambulance workforce in addressing the increasing demand on health services.

Knowledge & Information

• Providing networking opportunities between internal and external parties.

• Keeping member services informed through trends and changes through data collection and collation. In today’s data-driven, evidence-based world, this is a critical element of the CAA role.

• Sharing experiences and learning between members. The generous and ongoing sharing of knowledge and resources has been an absolute foundation of the CAA.

Learning & Development

• Supporting career development and alternate pathways.

• Engaging with internal and external partners to support further learning.

What do you expect are some future challenges the ambulance sector will encounter? Where can CAA provide support through these challenges?

Many of the challenges facing the ambulance sector are common across the wider health environment. These challenges are familiar to us all – escalating demand for health services; changes in workforce demographics and expectations; increasing professional and organisational scrutiny; and the need to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and environments.

There is one aspect however that is unique to the ambulance sector, and that is the evolving change in role and position of ambulance services within the healthcare continuum. The traditional ambulance role has been pre-hospital emergency care and transport services. Wthin a relatively short time, this has changed to providing more and more out-of-hospital primary health care. All information suggests that this case-type will continue to increase, while at the same time there remains an expectation that high quality emergency care will still be available when needed. The challenges inherent in managing this changing caseload and maintaining a prepared workforce are significant.

CAA can provide support in several key areas.

• Working in partnership across the sector and with different industries.

• Building on the work with current cardiac arrest and stroke initiatives to advance the education of time critical conditions where ambulance intervention improves survival rates.

• Coordination and collation of data and reports to better understand trends and challenges.

• Best practice strategies for the resolution of transfer of care delays.

• Identifying gaps in the workforce (minorities, workforce shortages etc) and developing strategies to address these gaps.

• Focusing on sustainability. There are growing societal expectations that even critical services will be delivered in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner.

What learnings can CAA take from how peak bodies and advocacy associations adapt to changes in the demand of stakeholders, such as the COVID-19 Pandemic?

It is important to acknowledge that the issues facing the CAA member services are often common to other workforces and environments, even outside the health arena. CAA is now structured and resourced more effectively to monitor the activity of other peak bodies and capitalise on actions that are transferable to the ambulance sector.

Strong international links are critical - it is still the case that trends that impact our part of the world often emerge first in the northern hemisphere. Key to the success of CAA is communication amongst member services.

The last three years have thrown challenges that have tested all aspects of the delivery of ambulance services. It has demonstrated unquestionably the need for organisational flexibility in how these services are delivered. During the pandemic, CAA was the pivot for dozens of meetings where learning was shared and professional support was provided, among the eleven members, across three countries. Through these difficult and unprecedented times, CAA’s established network of workgroups and committees demonstrated their greatest value.

To paraphrase – this was (arguably) the CAA’s finest hour.

Industry Events

What's on in the ambulance world

The UK Ambulance Leadership Forum

In September 2022, the UK-based Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) hosted the Ambulance Leadership Forum (ALF 2022), the UK public ambulance sector’s highest profile annual leadership conference.

Almost 400 participants attended to discuss, learn, and share over the two-and-a-half-day exhibition and conference.

Kick-started by AACE’s first face-to-face Women in Leadership session, the event was followed by a full agenda of main-stage and workstream sessions that focused on AACE’s strategic objectives, which are to support UK ambulance services to be:

• Employers of choice

• Providers of choice

• Partners of choice.

ABOUT AMBULANCE SERVICES IN THE UK

AACE is similar to the Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) in that it is a membership body representing the individual ambulance services within its respective country. The United Kingdom is made up of two countries (England and Scotland), one principality (Wales) and one province (Northern Ireland).

To serve our population of over 67 million people, the UK’s ambulance provision is structured into organisations that serve Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland along with 10 organisations that serve English regions. These 13 services make up the core membership of the AACE and are joined by further providers from Ireland and our Island services (such as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Wight).

Each ambulance service functions independently, reports to a board of directors and is responsible for its own budgets, fleet, workforce etc.

The UK still operates a model of health care under the banner of the NHS that provides all care free to users at the point of access, based on revenue raised through general taxation.

A major part of the AACE remit is to provide its ambulance service members with a central organisation that supports, coordinates, and implements nationally agreed policy. Hosting the Ambulance Leadership Forum (ALF) conference is an ideal format to discuss current major challenges, issues and future opportunities on a face-to-face basis.

AACE’s ALF event lead Steve Irving says: “A major challenge is how we continue to ensure the event can add value for delegates. However, over the past decade, UK ambulance services have had to manage ever greater levels of demand alongside a global pandemic, which has meant that ALF has been even more of a focal point for senior people across the sector.“

“Since 2020, the demand on ambulance and NHS services has never been higher, and none of us could imagine ramping and hospital handover delays at the levels we see them today. The effects of the global pandemic are still being felt and very few large in-person conferences or events have been held. So, in this context, taking hundreds of senior staff away from their workplaces to attend conferences has to be seen as worthwhile and capable of delivering real benefits, and we hope we have been able to achieve exactly that.”

While there is no magic formula to ensure every delegate has the perfect event experience, AACE’s understanding of running the ALF event for many years has shown that delegates tend to remember the little things, such as the quality of the food or the temperature level in their room, or whether they could see and hear clearly. This is, of course, in addition to a stimulating and informative agenda.

This year AACE was delighted to secure the Chief Executive Officer of the NHS, Amanda Pritchard, to open the conference with her keynote speech. As somebody who clearly has a large in-tray and many challenges at present, AACE and the ALF delegates were particularly grateful for her support.

As was expected, her message of thanks to the ambulance sector for the extraordinary efforts and commitment shown throughout the pandemic was well received. Messages of further tough times to come, perhaps less-so. There is no easy answer to ensuring smooth patient flow through the health (and social care) system in the UK at present, however, it is important to clearly recognise hospital handover delays as being symptomatic of a highly pressured urgent and emergency care system rather than it being seen and reported as an, ‘ambulance problem’, as can sometimes be the case.

Steve Irving says, “Do conference speakers tend to preach to the converted? To a certain extent, the answer is probably yes and it’s because subject matter experts tend to be products of the very systems that we are looking to develop. That said, speakers from overseas often bring a different perspective for an audience and that angle was notably missing this year. Sharing of personal experiences and highlighting best practice are sessions that are always well received, as are speakers that very clearly share the same difficulties as us all but also perhaps shine a light on a fresh approach or solution.”

Celebrate success!

Conference sessions cannot always be as interactive or uplifting as we’d ideally like, so attending the Gala Awards Dinner at ALF provides a welcome opportunity to celebrate success. Introduced about 10 years ago, the ‘awards’ element of the ALF conference is consistently rated as excellent by all involved and the 270 capacity dinner attendees this year certainly seemed to appreciate the exceptional work of their winners!

ALF 2023

Next Year’s event is in the planning stages and the date and location will be shared ‘worldwide’ as soon as it’s confirmed at www.aace.org.uk/alf.

What makes for an engaging ALF experience?

The 18th Annual IRCP meeting

By Scott Willits (ACP, CP-C) and Gary Wingrove (FACPE, CP-C)

The International Roundtable on Community Paramedicine (IRCP) met for the 18th time in September 2022, in Orlando, Florida, USA.

IRCP is supported by the Council of Ambulance Authorities (Australasia), Paramedic Chiefs of Canada (Canada), Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (UK), and the National EMS Management Association (USA). Meetings are rotated between the four countries with a tentative schedule of 2023 UK, 2024 Canada, 2025 Australia, and 2026 USA.

Eighty-five delegates from Australia, Canada, and the United States participated in this year’s meeting. Delegates from each country had the opportunity to share their passion of the paramedic service industry and present new and innovative programs from around the world. Topics included program design, operational logistics, implementation recommendations, academic and clinical research, and patient experience and clinical outcome studies.

The organisation and regulatory oversight of paramedic services and healthcare financing varies greatly among the counties, creating a variance within the community paramedic (CP) industry. IRCP provides the opportunity for delegates to learn from other industry leaders through networking and friendly conversation, to translate successes from other counties into their local landscape, helping each other advance together.

One of the newest forms of CP services includes the formation of free-standing agencies using the CP’s outside of an ambulance service and the advent of creating hospital rooms in the patient’s home to supplement inpatient hospital bed space. While we are seeing an increase in delays of paramedics at a brick-and-mortar facility for an in-patient bed, a new model of “hospital at home” has emerged in the USA. In this model, acute hospital services are replicated in the patient’s home, facilitated by CP services. The therapy needs of the patient are provided through emerging and available technology. From oxygen and durable medical equipment, to installing temporary internet communication devices, facilitating imaging studies, remote patient monitoring, and a variety of therapy needs.

In partnership with the CP services, the patient is connected to a 'command center' that is staffed around the clock for remote patient monitoring, continuity of care, and integration of physicians and other clinical care team members. This allows for the patient to remain in the comfort of their own home, with immediate access to telemedicine sessions with their dedicated care team in coordination with scheduled in-home therapy assessments and interventions. The partnership of the CP services and remote clinical care team ensures the patient has access 24/7 for any potential need. Including unscheduled or urgent visits for assessment and other therapy needs through a network of clinical providers and rapid response clinicians.

Hospital at home gives patients an opportunity to be treated in their home, while receiving analogous acute clinical care to that of a brick-and-mortar facility, with all the comfort benefits of being in their own environment. While simultaneously supporting and improving the patients flow and transportation through the brick-and-mortar facility by occupying their favorite recliner with their pets, family, and friends in their home instead of a noisy, uncomfortable, unfamiliar hospital bed with roommates. This is one way to decentralize patient care by changing the mix of patients in the brick-and-mortar facility to those that need more complex care while continuing to meet the acute clinical therapy needs of less complex patients. A single command centre can be the hub for multiple hospital at home patients and programs, supported by studies that suggest hospital at home nurtures an environment for a faster recovery, reduced complications, improved clinical outcomes, and better or preferred patient experience.

CPs and paramedic services are highly innovative to identify, meet, and resolve the healthcare industry and patient care needs. What new innovations will happen in 2023? Join us when we meet in the second half of the year, tentatively in the UK, to share your innovations and learn what others have done. The exact dates and location for IRCP will be announced in first quarter of 2023. Sign up for the IRCP email distribution list at www.ircp.info. In the meantime, the power points from the 2022 meeting are available on the website (home>meetings>2022).

Some of the topics from the 18th IRCP meeting include:

• The urban impact of community paramedicine

• The rural and remote impact of community paramedicine

• How community paramedicine can be scaled across a country

• Using telemedicine to support the service and its integration with other health care providers

• The advent of Community Paramedics (CPs) supporting emerging “hospital at home” models

• Integrating CPs with clinics specifically supporting vulnerable populations

• The advent of CP rapid assessment teams for patients discharged from the emergency department

• The use of remote patient monitoring by CPs

• How to promote community paramedicine to elected officials

• CPs supporting oncology and end of life care

• CPs supporting indigenous populations

• How CPs responded to support their communities for the pandemic

• International board certification for CPs

A Glimpse into St John Ambulance

This dynamic charity supports hundreds of thousands of people each year, to develop the skills to provide first aidincluding life-saving interventions such as CPR. Participants learn practical steps that empower them to deliver care in their homes, workplaces, schools, and communities.

St John Ambulance Australia also delivers a diverse range of services to meet local community needs.

This includes ambulance services, patient transport, free first aid training for school children, ophthalmic care, and targeted health and well-being initiatives that build community capacity. Programs such as their Event Health Services ensure people can participate in social, sporting and community pursuits, with a safety-net of first aid care close by. St John Ambulance is also a leading supplier of first aid kits, PPE, and safety devices, including defibrillators.

The backbone of St John Ambulance Australia is a network of almost 14,000 volunteers with a shared vocation of promoting physical and mental wellbeing. On their uniforms they wear an eight-pointed cross of Caritas and Royal Beasts (lions and unicorns) as a proud marker of a global charitable movement that spans 44 countries. The significance of these emblems is a centuriesold account of a working Order of Chivalry, steeped in a commitment to humanitarian care.

St John Ambulance is Australia’s leading provider of first aid training.

Courtesy St John Ambulance Australia SA Inc

Medieval Beginnings

This significant history began in the 11th century, when a charitable hospital was established in Jerusalem to provide medical aid, care and shelter to pilgrims and crusaders. Their work expanded across the Mediterranean and Europe. In 1113, the Pope granted them status as a separate Order of the Church. The hospital took on the name ‘Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem’, and they adopted the Amalfi Cross (a symbol of compassionate care) as their emblem. This has since been adopted by many societies and charities around the world, including CAA.

The St John Ambulance Association - leading to the modern-day services we now know - was established during 1877 in England. The aim was to address the growing need for effective first aid training to deal with an increase in accidents in an industrialised, urban society. The word ‘ambulance’ referred to the two-wheeled patient transport litter - a detachable stretcher on wheels.

During a period of rapid growth, centres were springing up across Britain and in all Commonwealth countries. On Tuesday 26 June 1883, in the Athenaeum Hall in Melbourne, a public meeting founded a St John Ambulance Association to teach first aid classes in Victoria. This was the beginning of St John Ambulance in Australia. Royal favour was earnt through ‘good works’ and in 1888, Queen Victoria constituted the Order of St John as a Royal Order of Chivalry. Today, His Majesty King Charles III is the Sovereign Head.

A Modern Health Service

While this rich history shapes the organisation, St John Ambulance is a modern health charity, evolving with the times and needs of the community. A priority is that of expanding the capacity for people from all walks-of-life to provide first aid.

Fewer than 5% of Australians have the first aid knowledge and skills to save a life in an emergency. Even within the shortest ambulance response times, there is often a need for immediate intervention. Population-based initiatives that encourage skill development are important.

St John’s new online Learner Driver First Aid course is one such initiative. It builds on the support of 2022 Senior Australian of the Year and St John volunteer, Valmai Dempsey, who has utilised her national platform to advocate for compulsory first aid training for learner drivers. St John Ambulance Australia CEO, Brendan Maher supports the charge, ‘This valuable tool promotes basic first aid awareness, and important skills for young drivers, their passengers, and bystanders.’

Civilian first aid also helps to reduce the impact of accident and injury, and to relieve symptoms. St John Ambulance training teaches a practical action plan to identity and respond to common emergencies including heart attack, stroke, blocked airways, bleeding wounds, broken bones, asthma and anaphylaxis, poisoning and more. These are skills which participants can take with them anywhere they go, leading to safer and more resilient communities.

A horse-drawn St John Ambulance outside the East Melbourne Fire Station c. 1901. Fire and Police stations housed St John’s ambulances and first aid equipment in the early days.

Our workforce. Our vision.

In an industry where every second counts, the CAA Congress provided welcome breathing space for the workforce that gathered to share ideas for enhancing ambulance services, today and into the future.

But how can this spirit of collaboration and learning be amplified beyond the confines of the event? Is there a simple, effective way to communicate the attendees’ shared knowledge to the wider industry?

The CAA-Corvanta Interactive Ideas Board was designed to capture the event’s key ideas visually, then be downloaded and shared to spark further industry-wide discussion around this year’s theme which was ‘Engaging our Workforce’. Ambulance staff from across Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea shared more than 70 original suggestions on the Ideas Board – we’ve picked out a few highlights here:

Right care, right patient

The way we care for patients is constantly changing to reflect the evolving needs of the community as well as the exciting growth of supportive technology. These solutions integrate clinical information, making paramedics and other providers better informed about patients’ individual healthcare needs.

Many Ambulance organisations provide some form of secondary triage. Secondary triage services are evolving into virtual care hubs, coordinating care in the community, and providing telehealth – which is so significant in the post-COVID world. These services can increasingly leverage real-time data and emerging technologies such as AI to further improve the care provided to the patient.

Providing the right care at the right time might not always mean emergency ambulance transport to a hospital. Each patient’s continuum of care begins with the first call to Triple Zero and must be maintained through subsequent stages including ambulance attendance, hospital admission, and discharge to ongoing community-based care. Increasingly, systems are available to integrate disparate clinical information so that paramedics and other health care providers are better informed regarding a patient’s health care needs.

A safer workplace

Vehicle monitoring is fundamental to delivering better safety outcomes for paramedics, with crash sensors, rollover detection, and airbag status systems all feeding data to ambulance control rooms in real time.

Duress alarms can be easily accessed within ambulances, while in-vehicle biometrics also mitigate potential risks by alerting management teams to signs of distress or driver fatigue. Beyond the ambulance, smart watches and wearable alarms, in addition to portable radio devices, provide additional duress notification methods for paramedics.

Wellbeing and visibility

Engagement surveys create pathways for real-time feedback from the workforce to senior managers, making management more visible and addressing the common problem of paramedics receiving minimal face-to-face time with senior staff.

This benefits managers by creating business intelligence opportunities that can identify improvements to working conditions and proactively mitigate the risk of staff burnout.

Role models and industry mentors can also play a key role in supporting junior members of the workforce. This is more important than ever, given that the average career length for paramedics is decreasing across the industry. Download the Ideas Board today!

At the CAA and Corvanta, we understand that it takes an ecosystem to nurture and support industry-wide growth, benefitting the out-of-hospital care workforce and ultimately delivering improved patient outcomes.

That’s why we’re encouraging you to download the CAA-Corvanta Interactive Ideas Board today, so these discussions can flourish in your own workforce and beyond. Visit Corvanta.com/insights

Did you spot the difference? This year’s Ideas Board is powered for the first time by Corvanta, entirely focused on solutions for out-of-hospital care providers. Corvanta was launched from the former Emergency Services business within Trapeze.

A year of rapid development for paramedicine

By John Bruning, CEO, Australasian College of Paramedicine

In many ways, 2022 has been a defining year for paramedicine. As Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand grapple with health system challenges resulting from health sector workforce shortages, the growing demand for hospital beds and the commensurate rise in ramping and access block for paramedics, greater attention is being focused on paramedicine as not only a potential redress for these issues, but also a viable and cost-effective means to improve and expand overall health care provision for all communities.

At both the national and state levels in Australia, paramedics are being recognised for their skills and capabilities in the primary care space, and are now either being currently utilised or are pledged to be utilised in Urgent Care Clinics in communities of need. Already in Aotearoa New Zealand, paramedics are working in a range of different environments and capacities as part of multidisciplinary teams who are pioneering new models of care and professional practice that are easing the burdens on clinics and hospitals and more importantly adding another dimension of patient care and treatment.

This recognition is a natural step forward in our professional evolution, and while the broader integration of paramedics within our health systems is still a way off, it has laid the foundations for a new and exciting era for paramedicine and begun to open up opportunities for paramedics to pursue a range of different career pathways. Similarly, too, in the education space, we are seeing the development of more specialisations that offer graduates greater choices in their preferred fields of practice.

All this augurs well for the coming years, and what is clear is that for the first time we are now the architects of our own future; we have ownership of our professional space.

The challenge now for the profession lies in developing a unified and shared vision for the profession and consensus on how we proceed, how we define ourselves, and how we achieve our goals.

The future of the profession was an integral component of our ACP International Conference in September, at which we brought together representatives from across the health sector to discuss what this vision of future might look like and how it would reflect and accommodate the diversity of paramedic practice. There is overwhelming agreement on the need to broaden the scope of paramedicine within the health sector and the benefits that will bring in addressing workforce shortages, providing better health services for underserved regional and remote areas and, through models such as community paramedicine, helping to keep people out of hospitals with extended pre-hospital care.

What form this will take is what we are now working towards in consultation with our allied health colleagues and our members, notably through our landmark Paramedicine Workforce Research, in which we are partnering with a consortium of academics and universities led by Dr Liz Thyer from Western Sydney University to study the needs, trends and aspirations of members of our profession to ensure optimal workforce planning.

The project will run over two phases, with Phase One involving an initial review of literature and existing datasets and defining clear research questions and methodology to inform Phase Two. Phase Two involves a survey of all registered paramedics, students and the broader paramedicine workforce in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, which will be repeated three times from 2023-25.

This data will become a national resource which will improve understanding of the paramedic workforce that will serve as a valuable guide in key decision-making for the profession.

As 2022 draws to a close, we are in the process of consolidating our progress thus far and planning our agenda for the year to come. We look forward to continuing to reshape the paramedicine landscape for all paramedics and future paramedics.

What is clear is that for the first time we are now the architects of our own future”

From Solving Challenges to Inspiring Girls in STEM

A Small Project that had a Global Impact.

Paramedics are frequently cannulating patients in challenging environments, which may not guarantee an aseptic technique and as such, national policy requires the removal or replacement within 24 hours. When admitted to hospital however, many cannulas placed emergently were not being removed or replaced.

By Caroline Hale

Every year lives are lost to preventable bloodstream infections from the most common procedure in healthcare –the peripheral cannula.

3M was approached by a small group of clinicians who wanted a more safe and effective way to identify a peripheral line placed emergently. When a patient would come into the emergency department with a cannula, several process gaps were identified which could easily result in failure to identify the cannula as emergent. A project was commenced to understand these gaps and to solve an ongoing issue. The goal was to find a solution without major process or cost changes and ensure the positive clinical outcome of no preventable bloodstream infections from these cannulas. The simple addition of the word emergency was added to the transparent dressing. This resulted in me, Caroline Hale, becoming a patent owner.

Beyond the remarkable and fulfilling outcomes of this project, an unexpected opportunity arose to mentor girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). The world is rapidly changing, and STEM careers are vital to maintain Australia and New Zealand’s capabilities in the science and technology space into the future. The world needs scientists to solve major problems that affect millions of people such as pandemics, global warming, disease, poverty, and inequality.

Only 16% of Australia's stem-skilled workforce are women, whereas the broader Australian workforce has close to 50% female participation.1 We need to support and encourage our girls in taking up STEM careers. A talented and diverse STEM workforce prevents biases, supports diversity and inclusion, and will be one step closer to closing the gender pay gap.

Curious Minds is one of the many groups that empowers girls to be high performers in STEM. It focuses on girls in years 9 and 10 with challenges such as living in regional and remote areas, socio-economic factors, or their indigenous status.

The girls are supported in their love of science and encouraged to explore their potential. They are matched with a suitable mentor that works in the same area of interest such as biology, mathematics, physics etc.

The girls then embark on a 6-month program where they have a hands-on extension and mentoring program. The outcomes and benefits of this program are: Expanded critical thinking and problem-solving skills, improved confidence, and a scientific network they can benefit from in the future.

This experience has enlightened me to the plethora of resources which are available. Science is so important, as there is so much yet to discover. For those of you with children that are interested in science, I would encourage you to expose them to STEM. Encourage and nurture their curiosity, search for programs they can get involved with in the community, the internet provides a multitude of resources and opportunities.

What better way to actively demonstrate and embrace the love of science by practically doing something that solves a problem? In this case the dressing modification was only a small change yet has the capacity to save lives. Sharing this story with the girls has enabled them to become empowered to reach for the stars. Science not only encourages creativity but develops critical thinking, communication skills, and broadens our perspective. I am proud and humbled to have had the opportunity to influence and inspire young minds, and look forward to continue supporting these programs in the future.

1. Anna-Maria Arabia, Chief Executive, Australian Academy of Science. How women and girls are transforming STEM. Newsletter, February 11, 2022

72

What is

People often ask me “what is sustainability?” coming into the conversation with a mindset that it is all about the environment. While environmental concerns have always been close to my heart, there is more to it than that. It is easy to get caught up in academic definitions but, for me, sustainability is about creating a better world for people to live in now and into the future. That ‘better world’ encompasses social factors as well as the environment.

While wanting to ‘create a better world’ may sound very altruistic, there is also good business sense behind looking after our people, our communities and the environment.

We asked Katrina Summersett, Ambulance Victoria’s Director of Sustainability for her thoughts.

Some examples of this are:

• We want to attract and retain the best talent for our workforce – aligning with the values of a more socially conscious younger generation will help do that.

• We can better manage costs when we reduce our resource consumption and waste generation.

• Preparing for the impacts of climate change creates a more resilient organisation that can better deliver our essential service in times of need.

• Legislative commitments at the Federal and State levels bind us to meeting emission reduction targets.

• Flexing models of care to deliver better patient satisfaction can also reduce environmental and financial impacts.

Ambulance Victoria has an aptly named Social and Environmental Responsibility Framework and Action Plan in place that captures in its title the responsibility we feel as an organisation to our people, our communities and the environment. This Framework has been in place since FY20 and has made great progress since then. Ambulance Victoria’s achievements include:

• The first healthcare organisation in Australia to commit to a net zero emission target.

• Signed up to a renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) for our 14 largest sites and transitioned remaining sites covered by the State Purchase Contract to 100% GreenPower®

• Developed environmentally sustainable Ambulance Branch Building Design Guidelines to support our pathway to building zero emission branches.

• Leveraged community programs that improve capacity for better health outcomes in our communities, like Shocktober and Restart a Heart.

• Created policies, procedures and templates to orientate towards more sustainable procurement practices and increasing our spend with social enterprises.

• Won awards for action on social and environmental sustainability:

- Community Champion in Waste Reduction and the Circular Economy category of Premiers Sustainability Award (2021)

- Leadership prize in Council of Ambulances Authority (2021)

- Climate Champion Awards from Global Green and Health Hospitals (GGHH) for action of climate change (2021)

• Climate Resilience – Gold

• Climate Leadership – Gold

• Renewable Energy - Silver

- Social Procurement Award from Procurement Australia (2022)

- Sustainable Procurement Award from Procurement Australia (2022).

It gives me a great sense of achievement when our actions bring together both social and environmental benefits. This was the case at our 2022 National Tree Day celebration where, in conjunction with the Wodonga Urban Landcare Network, local community members and staff, we were able to plant almost 1000 trees, shrubs and grasses to improve biodiversity at our regional Ambulance Branch in Wodonga West.

There are many great opportunities to be more sustainable at Ambulance Victoria which we are starting to turn our mind to as the next Social and Environmental Responsibility Action Plan FY25-29 is developed. Transitioning our vehicle fleet to zero emissions is high on our list of priorities, as is continuing to build resilience within our operations in preparation for extreme weather events. As our internal Covid restrictions are reduced and caseloads stabilise, we look forward to volunteering in the community again and providing valuable healthcare education to those in need. Importantly for our people, a focus on mental health and wellbeing, and diversity and inclusion will remain at the forefront now and into the future.

It is exciting to be part of an organisation with the ability to make a real contribution to a sustainable future. I look forward to bringing our sustainability opportunities to life!

Katrina joined Ambulance Victoria in early 2022 with over 15 years’ experience in environment and sustainability roles. Having come from a chemical manufacturing, energy and construction background she is enjoying the greater social connection as part of a health care service.  Her passion for emission reduction and waste minimisation has expanded into community resilience and sustainable health care models.  Katrina’s experience is supported by her formal education of a BSc Chem. (hons), Dip Env. Mgmt and MSc Env & Sust.

I have been Ambulance Victoria’s Director, Sustainability for less than a year, but already it is clear to me the commitment and dedication of our employees and leadership team to sustainability. When I joined AV, an organisation whose sole reason for existence is to help people in their time of need, I was confident I would be surrounded by people whose hearts were in the right place, wanted to make a difference and were action orientated. The perfect place to develop and deliver sustainable outcomes!

Katrina Summersett

Ambulance Victoria's Director of Sustainability

Can Assist

A big shout out to the NSW Ambulance West Wyalong crews for putting their spin bike skills to the test for charity. Liam, Harry, Johanna and Jack, along with our police colleagues, clocked up more than 300 kilometres in an hour to raise money for Can Assist, which supports country people with cancer.

Queenslanders, are you ready?

Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) headed to Nundah State School and joined fellow emergency services to promote Get Ready Queensland, an annual event that raises awareness and preparedness for the coming storm and cyclone season. Hundreds of students and Get Ready Ambassador Johnathan Thurston visited the QAS display and got involved in learning lifesaving CPR skills.

Onesie Appeal

Pride March

Queensland Ambulance Service staff rolled out their flags and were loud and proud as they took part in the Brisbane Pride Festival Rally and march.

#restartaheart

The Wellington Free Ambulance Onesie Appeal was another huge success in 2022 raising over $205,000 to help keep services free of charge. Schools and businesses across the region got behind the campaign by wearing onesies, including Summerset Retirement Villages who are the principal partner of Onesie Appeal, donating $40,000 to kick-start the campaign.

World Homelessness Day

Hato Hone St John central Auckland Area Committee got behind World Homelessness Day this month by providing free health checks. As well as the health checks, attendees were provided free kai (food), haircuts, hot showers, hygiene packs, and much more.

Emergency Nurse Week

In October many of our member services celebrated Emergency Nurse Week, including SA Ambulance Service, who’s emergency nurses at MedSTAR face challenging situations, difficult days and emotional patient scenarios day in and day out. Thank you to all incredible emergency nurses and the role they play to support the emergency services sector.

New Therapy Dog Lira joins the Ambulance Tasmania Team

Ambulance Tasmania would like to introduce their newest and most stylish therapy dog who will brighten up the days of Ambulance Tasmania staff in Launceston where therapy dogs have become a very popular part of their Wellbeing Program. Bearded Collie Lira and her guardian Kathy from Therapy Paws Tasmania will visit our Launceston people around once a month which may increase once Lira has settled in.

St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea join the Morobe Show

The St John Ambulance Papua New Guinea team joined the Lae community to support, patrol, and monitor the Morobe Show. Whilst they were cruising around the show, they were very excited to happen to run into the Deputy Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Hon. John Rosso, MP.

Canugra Show

The Queensland Ambulance Service team headed on down to the Canugra show to teach attendees emergency response skills. In between teaching people of all ages CPR skills, they even found some time out to make a slithery new friend.

CQU

CQUniversity believes higher education should be for everyone. Our accessibility, flexibility, student support, and wide range of courses available online and on campus help our students be what they want to be.

cqu.edu.au

Ferno

The only organisation in Australia specialising in the supply of a complete suite of products to meet the needs of Ambulance, Emergency, Rescue, and Height Safety. Trusted supplier to Emergency Services, Government Hospitals, and general industry for more than 40 years. ferno.com.au

NEANN

Through the NEANN brand RAPP Australia Pty Ltd specialises in designing, manufacturing, and distributing a wide variety of products for use in the wider emergency services industry throughout Australia and overseas.

neann.com.au

ORH

Supporting ambulance services in Australia for over 20 years, we have helped solve station location problems, quantify demand and capacity challenges, and set efficiency targets throughout our consultancy-based approach. orhltd.com

Philips

Philips is a health technology company focused on improving people’s lives through meaningful innovation across the health continuum – from healthy living and prevention to diagnosis, treatment, and homecare. philips.com.au/healthcare

Pulsara

Pulsara is a mobile-first telehealth and communication platform that connects teams across organizations. What makes Pulsara unique is its ability to enable dynamic networked communications for any illness or injury. pulsara.com

Stryker

For decades, we’ve been focused on innovations that help improve patient outcomes, help prevent caregiver injuries, and increase operational efficiencies so you can do what you do best: save lives. stryker.com/au/en

Corvanta

Corvanta partners with out-of-hospital care providers, to advance and deliver the technology they need to deliver timely, integrated, patientcentric services to improve healthcare outcomes.

corvanta.com

ZOLL

ZOLL® Medical Corporation, an Asahi Kasei company, develops and markets medical devices and software solutions that help advance emergency care and save lives, while increasing clinical and operational efficiencies. With products for defibrillation and cardiac monitoring, circulation enhancement and CPR feedback, supersaturated oxygen therapy, data management, ventilation,

and therapeutic temperature management, ZOLL provides a comprehensive set of technologies that help clinicians, EMS and fire professionals, as well as lay rescuers, improve patient outcomes in critical cardiopulmonary conditions.

www.zoll.com/au

Tactical Medical Degrees

Learn to deal with acute trauma situations and be uniquely qualified to respond in resource limited, dynamic and high threat environments with a qualification in Tactical Medicine. These online, highly flexible courses are ideal for paramedics and first-responders. Gain the critical skills needed to assess, plan, prepare and implement strategies for successful operations and patient management within a tactical environment. www.cqu.edu.au

Integrated Patient Care Records

The next generation of ePCR, the Corvanta iPCR is our complete, end-to-end solution for the out-ofhospital care sector – from the emergency call to the clinical handover. It’s the only solution of its kind. The Corvanta iPCR is more than a patient record system; the solution is also an intuitive decision support tool capable of improving patient safety and decision support, increasing operational resource availability, streaming of diagnostic quality vital signs, a seamless transfer of records, and more! Our iPCR technology is used by over 12,000 paramedics, is installed in 2,700 ambulances, and handles over 200,000 patients every month. corvanta.com

CAA helps provide an important link between the ambulance sector and businesses that provide goods and services for this industry. It’s instrumental in providing networking and partnering opportunities. Don’t hesitate to reach out to organisations of interest.

Interested in becoming a part of The Directory? Contact partnerships@caa.net.au

Christmas cheer or Christmas fear?

Mitch Mullooly Health and Wellness Strategist

Specialising in the wellbeing of first responders, Mitch is Council member of Te Kaunihera Manapou, New Zealand Paramedic Council; Advisory Board 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.

After the last few years of uncertainty and periods of isolation, many of us will be setting expectations for an extra jolly Christmas and planning time connecting with whanau/family and friends in celebration. However, for some, the festive season can also worsen financial issues, family conflict, loneliness and increase anxiety and stress.

Our situations are all so different, and then we throw in shiftwork, long hours and an already stretched workforce. So as Christmas and the New Year rapidly approach, it is okay to feel overwhelmed, especially given the last few years we have all experienced. We need to be kind to ourselves and others when planning what we will do this festive season and consider changing our expectations to remove stress, while aiming for a mentally healthy festive season.

I must admit there are times when I’ve loved Christmas, and there are times when I could have curled up in a ball and wished it all away.

Herearefivesuper

Frommywh-anau 'MeritoyoursKirihimete meteHapeN-u Ia!'

helpful tips to take care of your mental wellbeing during the upcoming festivities, so we can all turn that Christmas fear into Christmas cheer!

#1 - Be mindful and live in the moment

We hear this a lot, and I can speak from experience, although sometimes it’s easier said than done, there is absolutely no point in worrying about the future or dwelling on the past. Focus on what’s happening now, right in front of you, and celebrate the things that bring you joy, no matter how small you think they may seem. Being mindful can help centre your mental, emotional, and physical self and promotebetter mental wellbeing. Practicing mindfulness can also help prevent you becoming overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s happening around you.

#2 - Change your expectations and keep things in perspective

Don’t put yourself under pressure in the quest to create the ‘perfect’ Christmas. Only spend what you can afford, do something meaningful for others instead, and decide to spend time with people who are supportive. It is absolutely okay to say ‘no’ and change the things you would normally only do out of obligation or tradition. The more stressors you can remove the more opportunity you will have to relax and actually enjoy yourself.

#3 - Talk about how you are feeling with someone you trust

Talking with a friend, a relative, a coach or a mental health professional about the things that are worrying you can help you to realise that some concerns may not be as significant as you originally believed. Talking with someone can really help you focus on one or two things that may be at the core of your concerns.

If you feel uncomfortable about talking to someone then another strategy is to journal about what’s troubling you. Research tells us that the benefits of journaling are significant, it can help to reduce anxiety, helps with brooding, creates awareness, regulates emotions, and encourages opening up.

#5Give others a helping hand

#4 - Limit alcohol, eat well and keep active

Of course I’m going to say this, but I wouldn’t if it didn’t work! If you want to feel well throughout the festive season then try to limit your alcohol (there are some great 0% options out there now!), eat well and keep nice and active. While it may be tempting to cope with stress by increasing alcohol consumption, we all know that alcohol acts as a depressant which can further induce anxiety and increase stress.

Too much alcohol reduces an individual’s ability to think rationally, lessens inhibitions, and distorts judgment. While it is okay to enjoy the occasional drink, stay within the recommended guidelines. Trust me, you’ll be thankful for it!

Similarly, eating too much sugar laden food can leave you feeling lethargic and irritable. If you consume too many sugary treats (or refined carbohydrates) as comfort food to help manage your emotions, you may only make your feelings of sadness, fatigue and hopelessness even more. My best recommendation is to eat plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit, and good quality grass-fed meat, plus drink lots of water in between the occasional festive indulgence.

What can also work really well is a brisk 20-minute walk which will release endorphins, helping you feel relaxed and happy, as well as helping boost your immune system.

Helping others or performing small acts of kindness is great way to boost self-esteem for your own mental wellbeing as well as supporting others who may be going through a tough time. You could listen to a colleague’s Christmas anxieties, do some festive volunteering at a local charity or community centre, take a festive treat to an elderly neighbour, or collect old toys, books and clothes and donate them to the local Op Shop.

Remember you can get support - If you’re facing a difficult time over the Christmas and New Year period, it’s important to reach out and get support. It could be as simple as sending a text to a friend, making a phone call or inviting someone over for a cup of coffee to talk about what’s happening.

If you want help to move through challenging times or need someone to talk to about feelings of anger, anxiety or depression remember that all ambulance services have access to Member Assistance Programmes. Talk to your colleagues, Manager, or Peer Support about how to access these services if you are unsure.

And please, remember to show yourself some self-compassion, by having the same compassion towards yourself that you have towards others. When we can speak kindly to ourselves and are gracious with ourselves, we are happier, healthier, and more connected to ourselves and to others.

Free professional development without leaving your seat!

Designed to inspire and educate, these hour-long webinars feature a range of speakers discussing topical issues from around the ambulance world.

Each CAA webinar is worth 1 CPD hour.

For more information and to register visit caa.net.au/webinars