CAA FIRST Magazine issue 13

Women in Leadership Forum

CITADINES ON BOURKE Melbourne, Australia OCT 2023 26

On average, men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, but women apply only if they meet 100% of them.

We believe that the ambulance sector has a large pool of hidden talent - women currently in leadership roles or who aspire to be leaders but are unsure about how to take that next step in their careers.

The Women in Leadership Forum will provide attendees with practical skills, tools, perspectives and takeaway tips to help these women take the next step.

We invite you to meet and network with some of the Australasian ambulance sector’s most talented women in person at the 2023 CAA Women in Leadership Forum.

Tickets now available. Scan this QR code to book yours today.

Welcome to the July edition of FIRST, which means we’re already past the 2023 halfway mark. Here at CAA, we have had a very eventful first 6 months, from planning the annual Congress, to welcoming 2023 Women in Ambulance Honour Recipients, holding our first round of committee & forum meetings and even heading over to Canada to attend the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada conference.

In this issue we introduce you to a couple of inspirational people from SA Ambulance Service who have added to their day jobs by branching into a range of additional roles, and subsequently winning award recognised by their universities and colleagues for the great work they are doing in these new fields of endeavour.

On page 32 you will find the 2023 CAA Awards for Excellence Finalists, as well as an overview of the categories they are vying to win. This year’s Awards saw our members submit a record 50 extremely high calibre entries, recognised by the panel of international judges as being of the highest standards, with benefits and application to not only the Australasian ambulance sector but indeed globally.

Who will take home the category wins and the coveted overall Star Award for 2023. Join us at the CAA Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner on 2nd August in Brisbane and stay tuned on our social media. Thank you again to all the entries and good luck to all the finalists on the night, I will be cheering for each and every one of you.

This edition reflects on recent World Hand Hygiene Day, and we share with you some interesting initiatives our member services have undertaken, including St John WA’s Reconciliation Action Plan and ACT Ambulance Services’ Occupation Violence Campaign.

As always, we highlight the local stories of our people, places, and events from around Australasia that make up our wonderful ambulance community. Our regular Wellness First contributor Mitch Mullooly discusses Mental Fitness and our partners at the Australasian College of Paramedicine share their insights following the Critical Care Summit held at the end of May.

I warmly invite you to share any suggestions you may have for future editions by contacting me at admin@caa.net.au.

Sit back, rug up and grab a cuppa of hot chocolate (my personal favourite) and enjoy Issue 13 of FIRST. Mojca

20 Opinion First

It takes a system to save a life: Improving survival from cardiac arrest.

22 Services First

Showcasing the latest projects and achievements from across CAA member services.

36 Awards First

We introduce you to our Awards for Excellence 2023 Finalists and recognize the innovative solutions of our member services.

42 Feature First

FIRST speaks with SAAS Interim Chief Medical Officer, Dr James Doube and Paramedics, Anastasia Bougesis and Laura Drexler who have received Flinders University alumni awards recognizing their achievements.

42

52 Events First

Australasian College of Paramedicine’s inaugural Critical Care Summit draws hundreds of participants.

54 Partners First

The First Voice of Help - Call Takers and Dispatchers in Emergency Services at ETSA.

60 Research First

Stroke is one of Australia’s leading causes of death and disability and causes significant economic and health burden.

52

68

66 Sustainability

In honour of World Environment Day, here at CAA we asked ourselves the question, ‘What is Sustainability in Ambulance’?

68 People First

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

70 The Directory 72 Wellness First

Mental Fitness: What is it and why does it matter?

THE TEAM

Editor: Mojca Bizjak-Mikic

Relationship and Content Manager: Joshua McNally

Editorial Team: Joshua McNally & Courtney Waters

Publication Design: Kade Marsh, Alpha State

PUBLISHED BY:

The Council Of Ambulance Authorities

2/141 Sir Donald Bradman Drive Hilton SA 5033 Australia admin@caa.net.au

2022

Women in Ambulance Survey Report

TheCAA Women in Ambulance Survey was designed to provide women across our member services the opportunity to share their feedback, comments and opinions on what challenges and opportunities they have encountered while working in the ambulance sector.

The survey was open to all female staff members across Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinean ambulance services in July 2022; we received a total of 1,230 responses. The full report is available to read at www.caa.net.au/reports

In 2021/22 53% of the workforce was female

38.8% of executive positions are held by women

49% of survey respondents are paramedics

What skills women in the ambulance sector value most in a leader:

48% of survey respondents hold a Bachelor Degree

757 respondents reported education as how they pursue their learning and professional growth

466 respondents reported the biggest challenge is lack of opportunities for promotion

Industry News

The new Hato Hone St John Timaru to Christchurch Ambulance

Hato Hone St John introduced a new specialist transfer ambulance that improves the comfort and technology of transferring patients from Timaru to Christchurch hospitals. It includes a new engine that is more economical, better suspension, and is quieter. This new development improves health and safety, making transfers more comfortable for patients.

SA Ambulance Service introduces a new recruitment campaign, 'Answer the Call'

SA Ambulance Service are seeking to attract volunteers for ambulance services, with their new ‘Answer the Call’ campaign. The campaign will stretch from the Eyre Peninsula to the Limestone Coast. Currently more than 1200 volunteers provide ambulance services to South Australia in 80 locations.

Paramedic receives prestigious Churchill Fellowship to research dementia-friendly ambulances

Ambulance Victoria's MICA paramedic Lindsay Bent received a Churchill Fellowship to research dementiafriendly ambulances. Lindsay hopes to provide a more person-centred, targeted approach to the care and transport of those living with the disease.

The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Awards the Ambulance Service Medals

Five Ambulance Victoria team members have been recognised with the Ambulance Service Medal by the Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd). Congratulations to Dr Benjamin Meadley (MICA Paramedic), Carmel Louise Rogers (Senior Team Manager), Brett Drummond (Emergency Management Unit), Julie Faye Miller (Community Emergency Response Team Leader), and Lewis Gerald McDonald (Ambulance Community Officer).

Reaching for the Stars… or Starlink with the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia

Director and Australian Stroke Alliance Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bivard, recently had the exciting opportunity to work with Zoe Schofield and the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia. To test the integration of the Zeus telehealth platform with Starlink, using power from the aircraft. The successful attempt allowed them to connect a neurologist in Sydney with those at the plane.

Ambulance Tasmania paramedics visit some potential future paramedics

at Claremont College

Ambulance Tasmania paramedics Nikki and Rob (pictured) visited some potential future paramedics at Claremont College. An interactive stall with mannequins and equipment bags were set up for students to explore.

Jordan Emery becomes Ambulance Tasmania CE

It is a pleasure to announce that Jordan Emery has been permanently appointed Chief Executive (CE) of Ambulance Tasmania. Jordan joined the service as Executive Director, Operations in early 2022, and has been filling in as Acting CE for most of this year.

Jordan said it was a privilege to accept the position.

“During my last 18 months with the organisation, I’ve met so many brilliant people who make our small but mighty organisation a success.

“Together everyone delivers a vital service to Tasmania, and Tasmanians have enormous regard and admiration for our people. I share in that admiration, and it fuels my service as a leader.”

Waroona Subcentre donates three AEDs to local police

St John Waroona Sub Centre has contributed to community safety by donating three Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) to the Waroona police station. Two of the AEDs will be readily available in police cars, allowing officers to respond swiftly to critical situations, potentially saving valuable minutes in emergency situations. The third AED has been installed externally at the Waroona Police Station. This strategic placement ensures easy access for community members in need 24 hours a day.

The Council of Ambulance Authorities continues to deliver and develop a range of events and programs that will provide members with opportunities to make new connections, learn, develop, and employ new skills.

TheCouncil of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) have big plans for 2023, with a range of events and programs organised that will provide opportunities to learn, develop, and employ new skills.

Congress 2023

The theme of this year's Congress, held in Brisbane from August 1-3, is Inspire, Innovate, Elevate.

As ever, the list of presenters include insightful speakers and subject matter experts from a diversity of backgrounds and experiences, certain to inspire further leadership development innovation.

Congress plays host to a wide number of social events allowing guests to meet or reconnect with industry peers. Events such as the Welcome Reception, Delegate Networking Breakfast, and ICU Later are always popular and well attended.

And of course, as featured on page 32, Congress is a time to recognise the innovation and excellence from amongst all our members across Australasia at the annual CAA Awards for Excellence. This year’s Awards saw our members submit over fifty extremely high calibre entries, recognised by the panel of international judges as being of very high quality and with benefits and application to not only Australasia but internationally as well.

Who will take home a category award or the coveted Star Award on August 2? Stay tuned to our social media handles, newsletter, or the November edition of FIRST to find out.

More information is available at caacongress.net.au

BRISBANE, 1 – 3 AUGUST 2023

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Women In Leadership Forum

Save the date for the Women in Leadership Forum, to be held on October 26, 2023, at Citadines on Bourke, Melbourne Australia.

The Forum has been developed to help existing and emerging Women in Leadership from amongst the ambulance sector to learn, interact, share stories and new perspectives that allow attendees to flourish in any leadership role.

The program contains impactful, dynamic, and uplifting presentations from inspiring speakers with tools and content that can be applied both professionally and personally.

Tickets are limited. For more information visit caa.net.au/wilforum

Women in Leadership Scholarship

2022 saw CAA launch the inaugural CAA Women in Leadership Scholarship to great success. We are proud to bring the scholarship back for another year.

The scholarship aims to encourage more women to step into leadership roles and to support the further development of current women leaders in the ambulance sector.

This year’s scholarship winner will receive a fully funded one-on-one 12-month virtual leadership course with Julie Piantadosi from Total Coaching Academy valued at over $10,000 AUD. The two runners up will receive a fully funded one-on-one six-month leadership course with Julie valued at $6,000 AUD each. All of the scholarship finalists will receive two group online leadership sessions with Julie.

The scholarship finalists will be announced via CAA socials on September 4, 2023 and the winner will be announced at The CAA Women in Leadership Forum, at the Citadines on Bourke in Melbourne on October 26, 2023.

Our 2022 Scholarship winner, Marinda Thomas says, “The opportunity to grow and develop into the best version of myself has been amazing. It is not an easy journey of self-reflection, but it allows you to be your true authentic self and to work out what feeds your soul.”

Learn about the scholarship at caa.net.au/wilscholarship

Restart a Heart

Did you know that 9 out of 10 people won’t survive an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest?

Restart a Heart is an initiative co-ordinated in Australia and New Zealand by The Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA), to raise awareness and educate the community about CPR and AEDs. The campaign provides a range of resources including, access to training providers, supporter packs, and videos about restarting a heart.

CAA will plan live events to recognise Restart a Heart Day on October 16, as will our member services. To partner and support the campaign, learn more at restartaheart.net

Job Board

One of the most popular sections of the CAA website is the Job Board. Here you can find a number of roles covering a range of disciplines both clinical and nonclinical, sourced from across Australasia.

We welcome submissions from members services to add a job on the Job Board at no charge – just get in touch to make us part of your recruitment and talent development strategy.

Visit caa.net.au/jobs

External Publications

CAA provide numerous resources for the ambulance services community, including External Publications. The External Publications page shares a wide range of materials from our member services, and beyond. The page highlight’s Member Annual Reports, Member Strategies, and Other External Reports.

Visit caa.net.au/external-reports-and-publications

Every year, May 5th is celebrated as World Hygiene Day. Originally launched by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2009 as “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands”, the CAA has adopted and adapted the campaign in to, ‘Take Five for Hand Hygiene’.

This campaign highlights the importance of hand hygiene during a paramedic’s time with patients. The campaign is designed to highlight five key moments when dealing with patients and importantly speaks about good hand hygiene and preventing the over-reliance on wearing gloves.

Over the next few pages you can see examples of the posters used to promote good hand hygiene practises in all aspects of patient interaction, and the zones our frontline staff need to be aware of to deliver best practice.

You can learn more by visiting caa.net.au/take5

Recognising the difference between a Patient Zone (red), a Clean Healthcare Worker Zone (green) and a Healthcare Worker Zone (yellow) is essential for determining when hand hygiene is required. Hand hygiene between these areas will minimise the level of microbial burden on patient care equipment, vehicles and frequently touched areas. Follow these simple steps to prevent cross infection between patients and improve overall staff safety.

With every patient interaction, you will come in to contact with multiple surfaces. Hand hygiene between these areas will minimise the level of microbial burden on patient care equipment, vehicles and frequently touched areas. Determining the right type of hand hygiene at each point is essential to prevent cross infection between patients and improve overall staff safety. Please recognise and remember the difference between a Patient Zone (red), a Clean Healthcare Worker Zone (green) and a Healthcare Worker Zone (yellow).

International Paramedics Day

A chance to celebrate our Australasian paramedics

Paramedics and first responders around the globe are faced with a mountain of challenges day after day, for the health and safety of our communities.

Now in its second year, July 8th is recognised globally as International Paramedics Day, in acknowledgement of the incredible difference that paramedics make to our lives.

Coordinated globally by the UK’s College of Paramedics, this year’s theme is, ‘What Paramedics Do’.

As well as recognising paramedics and first responders and the vital role they play, the day aims to raise awareness of all the settings where paramedics work including ambulance services, primary and secondary care, GP surgeries, military, offshore, helicopter emergency medical services, education, research, and telephone triage systems as well as to promote the profession to aspiring paramedics and students.

In Australasia, the day is celebrated by not only the CAA but by our member services and the College of Australasian Paramedicine, amongst others. From local events to sharing stories on social media, the day was a chance to highlight the breadth of paramedic practice, where paramedics working in the health sector and helping to improve the health outcomes for all people across Australasia.

If you’d like to know more, visit ipdaustralasia.org, and mark down July 8th 2024 for next year’s celebration as well!

It takes a system to save a life: Improving survival from cardiac arrest.

By Professor Tony Walker ASM FACPara

Around 25,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) each year. Around 12% survive a cardiac arrest with higher rates of survival for those in a shockable rhythm.

Despite their homogeneity, there are differences in cardiac arrest survival between the various ANZ ambulance services, however this gap is progressively narrowing as each service focuses on best practice improvement strategies.

Australia has a history of innovation in cardiac arrest going back to the early 1970s with the introduction of mobile coronary care ambulances in Victoria and New South Wales and portable defibrillation into primary ambulance clinical practice across Australia in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The move to thinking about cardiac arrest through a systems lens started with the development of the Chain of Survival in the early 1990s1. This approach recognised improved cardiac arrest survival where a particular sequence of interlinked events occurred as quickly as possible; in particular, early activation of the EMS system, performance of bystander CPR and rapid delivery of defibrillation. The Chain of Survival concept has continued to evolve and become the mainstay of cardiac arrest system improvement since then.

Ambulance Victoria (AV) provides a unique case study to explore how focusing on system improvement by strengthening the Chain of Survival improves outcomes. Following a 1998 study in Melbourne which found low levels of bystander CPR (22%) and only 3% survival to hospital discharge (9% where the patient was in a shockable rhythm)2, AV received $3M annual recurrent funding from the Victorian Government to implement a Pre-Ambulance Basic Life Support Strategy (PABLS) to strengthen the Chain of Survival.

Initiatives introduced included a cardiac arrest registry and annual report to the community, Public Access Defibrillation, firefighter co-responder and community first responder programs and a DVD based CPR awareness program for those aged over 50 years. The implementation of the PABLS strategy and other subsequent improvements led to an increase in bystander CPR rates from 35% in 20023 to 79% in 2021-224 and an 80% improvement in the odds of survival to hospital discharge for patients presenting in a shockable rhythm in 2021-2022 compared to 2006-074

Seattle in the United States commenced their Medic One program in the early 1970s and since then, their continued focus on cardiac arrest improvement has seen them universally recognised as world leaders in cardiac arrest survival. In 2008 they commenced the first Resuscitation Academy (RA) to share their experiences and help other EMS services learn how to develop and implement plans to improve survival. Based on the successes of the RA, a meeting was held at the Utstein Abbey in Norway in 2015 to explore opportunities to expand the international reach and utility of the RA concept around the world. This meeting led to the establishment of the Global Resuscitation Alliance (GRA) and the publication of a paper5 outlining ten programs (best practices) to achieve improvement underpinned by the principles of “measure and improve”.

As the Secretariate of the GRA in ANZ, the Council of Ambulance Authorities has regularly hosted RA forums involving local and international experts to help disseminate information on the ten programs and share local best practice. Each ambulance service’s cardiac arrest system of care is at a different stage of maturity and the ten programs have provided a framework to successfully help guide local improvement. Victoria, with a mature cardiac arrest system of care, has focused amongst other things on high-performance CPR (which saw a 33% increase in the risk-adjusted odds of survival)6, implementing GoodSAM, a smart phone app connecting almost 6,000 registered users with someone nearby in cardiac arrest, and trialling whether equipping highfrequency GoodSAM responders with an ultraportable defibrillator (CellAED) can increase survival. Over the same period the Australian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (AusROC) established a national Epistry (Epidemiological Registry) with 100% Australia and New Zealand coverage allowing the reporting and comparison of Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest across the region for the first time6

There have been significant advances in cardiac arrest care in Australia over the past 50 years and a growing understanding of the benefits that can be realised by looking at cardiac arrest through the lens of a data and improvement driven system of care. This approach is already paying dividends across Australia and new technologies such the GoodSAM app and ultraportable AEDs create new opportunities to further strengthen our cardiac arrest systems of care and, as Prof Mickey Eisenberg puts it, “Snatch more lives from the jaws of death”.

Professor Tony Walker

ASM FACPara

References:

1. Cummins RO, Ornato JP, Theis W, et al. Improving survival from cardiac arrest: the chain of survival concept Circulation 1991: 83: 1832-1847.

2. Bernard S. Outcome from prehospital cardiac arrest in Melbourne, Australia. Emerg Med 1998; 10: 25-29.

3. Smith K, Currell A, Walker T, et al. A pre-ambulance basic life support (PABLS) strategy in Victoria, Australia Resuscitation: 2010: 81S; S1–S114

4. Ambulance Victoria 2023. Victorian Ambulance Cardiac Arrest Registry 2021–2022 Annual Report. Accessed 6 July 2023. <ambulance.vic.gov.au/about-us/ research/research-publications/>.

5. Eisenberg M, Lippert F, Castren M, et al. 2018. Improving Survival from Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest. Acting on the Call 2018 Update from the Global Resuscitation Alliance. Accessed 6 July 2023. <globalresuscitationalliance.org/ wp-content/pdf/acting_on_ the_call.pdf> .

6. Bray J, Howell S, Ball S, et al. The epidemiology of out-ofhospital cardiac arrest in Australia and New Zealand: A binational report from the Australasian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (Aus-ROC) Resuscitation. 2022: Mar;172:74-83.

Reconciliation Action Plan

From St John WA

St John WA joined more than 2000 corporate, government and not-for-profit organisations with the launch of its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) on February 28 with a traditional smoking ceremony and celebration of First Nations culture.

More than a year in the making and shepherded through the process by a dedicated working group, with guidance from Jahna Cedar, RAP advisor who has been instrumental in guiding St John, the RAP will sustainability and strategically enable the organisation to take meaningful action to advance reconciliation.

At the launch, St John Group Chief Executive Kevin Brown said while the finalised RAP document was a positive step forward, the “hard work starts now” for the organisation.

“Our shared vision for reconciliation is to ensure St John WA’s network of services, reflect a culture of deeper understanding and respect for First Nations peoples, their histories and cultures, while fostering better healthcare opportunities and building relationships based on inherent mutual trust.”

Mr Brown also expressed his support for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Based around the core pillars of relationships, respect and opportunities, the St John RAP provides tangible and substantive benefits for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increasing economic equity and supporting First Nations self-determination.

Welcoming launch attendees to the RAP event, Walter McGuire from Go Cultural acknowledged First Nations people’s contributions to Australian culture as the Traditional Custodians of the lands across

Western Australia, on which St John operates. He also spoke of his long-term friendship with new Group CEO Kevin Brown.

Jeremy Maitland-Smith, a Yamatji paramedic who works in the metropolitan region, spoke of his journey with St John and his wish for more First Nations people to be trained as paramedics on country, and Reconciliation WA CEO Jody Nunn offered support and resources to the organisation as St John moves forward with its RAP.

More than 200 people attended the launch event in person with 42 locations live streaming to mark this important milestone. Everyone attending were treated to a special rendition of the Noongar song Wanjoo by students from the nearby Belmont Primary School, and got to try traditional crafts and hear live music from Phil Walleystack.

The launch featured artwork by Nani Creative Director Kevin Wilson which tells the story of the impact and connect St John has to community “creating opportunities for our mob and keeping our people strong.”

There are four types of RAPs:

1. Reflect  - Scoping

2. Innovate  - Implementing

3. Stretch  - Embedding

4. Elevate  - Leadership

St John WA is commencing the Reflect RAP, which will scope the objectives, and set the organisation up for future RAPs.

To view St John’s RAP, and for more information about the organisation’s reconciliation journey, go to stjohnwa.com.au/about-us/reconciliation-action-plan

AGGRESSION OR VIOLENCE

IT’S NOT PART OF THE JOB

Occupational Violence Campaign

From ACT Ambulance Service

In March the ACT Emergency Services Agency launched the ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) Occupational Violence campaign across the ACT.

As those who work in ambulance services across Australia would be aware, unfortunately occupational violence is a reoccurring issue that our frontline workers face daily. Frontline staff are there during stressful times for our community, and in many instances, potentially some of the worst days of their lives. However, this is no excuse for violence or aggression. Nobody should have to go to work and experience violence. Everyone should feel safe when they are at work.

The campaign was implemented with an aim to:

- Increase awareness on occupational violence in the ACT

- Drive action and encourage the community to stop the behaviour whilst prioritising prevention for its employees

- Empower workers to take action, speak up and report violent and/or aggressive behaviour they face whilst at work

The ACT Emergency Services Agency is there to protect their front-line staff against all incidents of occupational violence.

These instances can include:

- Blocking someone from completing their job

- Yelling, screaming, swearing or another form of verbal intimidation

- Spitting & biting

- Hitting, kicking & punching

- Gendered violence

Violence and aggression towards frontline workers can not only have significant impacts on a persons psychological and physical health, but it stops them from helping someone in a potentially emergent situation.

As well as educating the community, we hope that this campaign encourages our ACTAS staff to report any and all instances of occupational violence. Violence and aggression – it’s not part of the job and is not something frontline workers should be subject to.

There are a range of support services and mechanisms in place for ACTAS staff.

These include:

- Direct supervisor support at the time of the incident

- Peer support program

- Extensive employee assistance program

- ACT Emergency Services Agency Chaplains

- Frontline support from ACT Policing

Many of these services are anonymous and are tailored to assist staff in a personalised manner.

In addition to these support services, in late 2021 ACTAS introduced its occupational violence framework. This framework helps guide staff and identify the risk of violence and aggression and respond appropriately to prevent an episode occurring and minimise its impact. As part of the rollout staff undertake a full day faceto-face training course with supporting resources and eLearning modules.

This is a strong achievement, however, to fully combat this issue the community must get on board.

We hope this campaign takes a step in reaching the goal of zero instances of occupational violence towards ACTAS staff.

Violence or aggression – it’s not part of the job.

Since the introduction of the framework and training there has been a quarter-onquarter reduction in episodes of physical violence.

Challenges in emergency response are part of the everyday life of rescuers. Long distances and long transport times are problematic, as the oxygen supply is limited in most cases. With MEDUVENT Standard from WEINMANN Emergency you have a ventilator that works independently of oxygen. Thanks to turbine technology, it can ventilate patients without an external gas supply. With the low-flow supply you can easily supply patients with medical oxygen or concentrator oxygen.

Welcome to the world, Baby George!

From ACT Ambulance Service

Those who work in ambulance services across Australia know that when it comes to giving birth, things don’t always go to plan.

ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) paramedics Elliot and Karla experienced this earlier this year when baby George decided he wanted to come into the world very quickly, surprising his parents in the process.

It was late at night when they received the call to head out to a possible home birth. They were told that the soon to be mother was very close to giving birth and were thinking about whether it would be best to transport her to hospital or assist with the birth at home. Within minutes of Elliot and Karla arriving on scene it was noticeably clear that the best option was to assist with the birth at home.

Karla and Elliot were lucky enough to reunite with happy and healthy George and his parents a few weeks later. This is not something that paramedics get to do often and thus when presented with the opportunity of course Karla and Elliot were more than happy to reunite.

“It was really nice to be part of the family’s birth journey. It’s not something that we get to do everyday, so being a part of that is a privilege.” – ACTAS paramedic Elliot.

Paramedics Elliot and Karla’s story is a reminder to not only the community to always be emergency ready but to other paramedics to savour the positive moments and outcomes that they come across in their jobs.

Take the time where possible and given the opportunity to pat yourselves on the back for the good outcomes and check in on how your patients are going. As Karla and Elliot experienced, it is those moments that make the rest of the job worthwhile.

George was born about five minutes after the paramedics arrival and shortly after was taken to the hospital with his parents.

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Morning CPR training saves a life that afternoon

From ACT Ambulance Service

For many paramedics, responding to a cardiac arrest incident is business as usual. However, showing up to a cardiac arrest for a sevenyear-old, is something they certainly don’t experience every day.

That is exactly what happened when ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) paramedics Samantha, Jarryd and Susi were on shift earlier this year.

Georgie, had been on a walk with her older siblings Rose and Eve when she collapsed and became unresponsive. Instantly the sisters ran to get their mother who called for an ambulance and started CPR, continuing until the paramedics arrived.

Once the ACTAS paramedics arrived, together with firefighters from ACT Fire & Rescue, they revived young Georgie and transported her to hospital.

A couple of weeks after the cardiac arrest Samantha, Jarryd and Susi had the opportunity to reunite with Georgie and her family. For ACTAS paramedics seeing patients back to full health is one of the rewarding elements of the job.

Georgie is now back to full health and living the life of your typical seven-year-old thanks to the quick thinking and response of her family. Upon their reunion Georgie’s mum Liz disclosed to the team that the morning of the cardiac arrest, she had attended a first aid course where she learned how to administer CPR. Her knowledge and quick thinking to administer CPR ultimately led to Georgie making a full recovery.

Georgie’s story is a reminder to all, the important role that communities can play in emergencies. Georgie’s family never imagined having to use this life saving skill, but thankfully their training and involvement in the incident played a huge part in saving her life.

In the words of ACTAS paramedic Samantha, “I think knowing how to do CPR, whether it be saving somebody that you know, your neighbour, or somebody else in your community, it’s so valuable. We’re not going to be there straight away, so having somebody be able to start CPR and keep that oxygen going around the body until we can get there with our more advanced interventions is crucial. And being able to do that for somebody in your community, I don’t think there’s anything better.”

The role of a paramedic is more than just responding to incidents. A huge part is also keeping the community informed and educated on how they can help prevent emergencies and assist if one does occur.

The best outcome for anyone involved in an emergency is for the patient to recover to full health and Samantha, Jarryd, Susi and the whole team at ACTAS are glad that she did. We thank them all, as well as Georgie’s family for sharing their story with us.

World class medical research helping save lives

In March 2022, 43-year-old Mark Wohlers unexpectedly suffered two cardiac arrests. The healthy and active father-of-one was playing a round of golf when he experienced dizziness and chest pain and decided to drive home to rest.

Mark was about a kilometre from his Deepdene house when he called his wife, Victoria.

“Since I have known Mark, he would never walk off the golf course for anything, so I knew something was wrong, which is why I immediately called Triple Zero (000),” Victoria said.

Mark turned into his street where he went into cardiac arrest, crashing his car into a brick wall. Victoria rushed to the scene and said she was met by multiple ambulances and firefighters.

“I saw Mark on the ground with four or five paramedics performing CPR, then suddenly a car turned up with what looked like two surgeons in blue scrubs,” she said.

“They told me they needed to perform surgery now otherwise he would die. They put up some sheets and put him on ECMO on the street.”

Mark, who had no history of heart issues in his family, is alive today thanks to an incredible chain of survival as well as an Australian-first trial which led to Ambulance Victoria paramedics and Alfred Health intensive care specialists performing life-saving surgery on the street.

The CHEER3 (CPR, pre-Hospital ECMO and Early Reperfusion) feasibility study is a partnership between Ambulance Victoria and Alfred Health, where an ambulance rapid response car is equipped with a portable heart-lung machine known as Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).

From Ambulance Victoria

Intensive care specialists from The Alfred travel with Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedics to patients suffering cardiac arrest within a 25-minute radius, bringing the technology with them.

It means people can get the potentially lifesaving care they need faster, improving their chance of survival.

Once on scene, the patient is placed on ECMO and stabilised so they can be taken to The Alfred for further treatment.

In Mark’s case, he spent one week on ECMO before he was able to have a stent inserted into his heart. He spent the following week on life-support.

Incredibly, Mark has gone on to make a miraculous recovery and today, he is back running his business, playing golf and spending time with his 10-year-old son.

“I was beyond lucky to have everything align so well for me that day,” Mark said.

In April 2023, Mark and Victoria reunited with the paramedics, firefighters, ESTA call taker and Alfred Health surgeons who seamlessly worked together to help save him.

MICA paramedic Samuel Marshall, who responded to Mark’s case, said his recovery was an “extraordinary tale of survival”.

“Mark is a perfect example of why we urge everyone to know the signs of cardiac arrest and when to call Triple Zero (000). Anyone can help save a life,” he said.

Ambulance Victoria Medical Director Associate Professor David Anderson said Victoria has the best cardiac arrest survival rates in the country and one of the best in the world thanks to bystanders willing to step in and help.

“Every day, about 20 Victorians suffer a cardiac arrest and only one in 10 survive,” David said.

“We know minutes matter so if a person receives bystander CPR and defibrillation, their chance of survival increases by more than 70 per cent.”

David said Ambulance Victoria, as a research-focussed organisation, runs clinical trials to test breakthrough treatments to further improve the chances of patients like Mark returning to their loved ones.

“Mark was fortunate to be part of a feasibility study that brings cutting edge technology from the hospital to the streets – which was the icing on top of his remarkable survival story,” David said.

“Victoria is home to some of best and brightest medical specialists, with advanced medical equipment like ECMO. That makes it the best place to carry out such groundbreaking research.”

The next phase of the CHEER3 study will further investigate its benefits and how the procedure can potentially be more broadly applied in Victoria.

Victoria thanked everyone who helped save Mark’s life.

“They have given me my husband back and, more importantly, my son will continue to have a dad he can grow up with. I can’t put a price on that,” Victoria said.

THE CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS

Thankfully a friend noticed Janice wasn’t herself, she started a meaningful conversation and encouraged her to seek support.

“Being in uniform can make hiding your personal struggles easy. But over time friends and family noticed something was up. Whether it was because I didn’t see them as much or I was different in text messages, they could tell”, says Janice. “I will be forever grateful to the friend who noticed a change in me and asked what was going on. She took the time to listen. She nudged me into action by saying I should chat to someone properly. That was the start towards a better me. If I didn’t have support and get the help I needed – I wouldn’t be here.”

Janice wants to ensure everyone feels equipped to trust their gut and have an R U OK? conversation.

“Let them know you’re there when they’re ready to talk. If it’s someone you know well you might have noticed changes, so be honest with them and ask them how they’re doing,” says Janice.

“A conversation can absolutely change a life. It can help someone realise there are people out there going through the same thing and it can be the turning point in them getting the help they need.”

‘Are They Triple OK?’ resources for police and emergency services workers and volunteers, as well as their family and friends. These include a conversation guide, a podcast and other personal stories.

If you’re worried about someone, encourage them to contact their Employee Assistance Program (EAP), agency support service or connect with their GP.

For 24/7 for crisis support call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Text support is also available: 0477 13 11 14.

From left to right: Janice’s daughter, partner and Janice.

2023 CAA Awards for Excellence

2023 CAA Awards for Excellence

August 2nd 2023 CAA Awards for Excellence Gala Dinner at Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane, Australia.

For over 15 years, The Council of Ambulance Authorities have proudly presented the Awards for Excellence. The Awards recognise the hard work and innovative solutions of our member services from Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea across a range of areas and representing all the people, teams and job functions that go in to running and developing a truly world-class ambulance service.

The awards are designed to encourage our members services to learn and share from each other beyond the committees, forums and networking groups that are also a vital and formal part of sharing best practice and information.

The awards are judged by a panel of independent, industry-respected judges from around the world. They give of their time and expertise freely, and we are truly grateful for their assistance and insights. Without our judges, our Awards would not be as strong or held in as high esteem as they are.

2023 Winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner on August 2nd at the Howard Smith Wharves in Brisbane, Australia, where the winner of the prestigious Star Award is also announced, selected by our judges from amongst the six category winners as doing something uniquely innovative in the ambulance sector, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes.

Here we share with you an overview of each Award category, along with the category finalists. There is a QR code you can scan to see a list of all entrants from across Australasia.

To learn more about the 2023 CAA Awards for Excellence, scan this code with your camera or visit caa.net.au/awards

Excellence in Technology

Recognising innovation or capability in the fields of equipment, communications, and information systems.

When making their submission to this category, each service is encouraged to reflect on how their organisation has used technology in the past twelve months to enhance patient outcomes, staff performance or response capacity.

Previous submissions have included using systems and technology to reduce emissions whilst improving operational efficiency, Real Time COVID-19 data linkage and Secondary Triage Work from Home management.

Finalists

Hato Hone St John –

Ambulance Activity and Resource Model (AARM)

Ambulance Victoria –

2021 Clinical Response Model: An evidence-based approach to improve ambulance resource allocation and response performance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hato Hone St John -

National Operations & Emergency Centre (NOC)

Excellence in Clinical Practice

Recognising innovation or capability in the fields of skills mix, pharmacology, and clinical intervention as they relate to patient treatments and outcomes.

When making their submission to this category, each service is encouraged to reflect on how their organisation has excelled in clinical practice with breakthrough moments that saw cutting edge techniques implemented to revolutionise the world of paramedicine.

Previous submissions include Spotlight on Aeromedical, Clinical Practise Manual and app and Virtual Care Service.

Finalists

Hato Hone St John –

Aotearoa New Zealand Out-of-Hospital STEMI Report

St John WA –

‘Leave behind Naloxone’ by St John WA

Ambulance Officers/Paramedics

St John WA –

Recognising and responding to acute deterioration

SJWA project: Introduction of early warning scores and clinical escalation pathways

Excellence in Staff Development

Recognising education improvement or innovation in the fields of program design, delivery, assessment, and accreditation; professional development, skills maintenance, and practice standards, including community education; and research and/or innovation supporting evidence-based practice.

When making their submission to this category, each service is challenged to explore areas where improvements have been made in staff development, and how these resonating changes have improved the evolution of paramedicine.

Previous submissions include Graduate Ambulance Paramedic Improvement, Shocktober and COVID-19 Surge Workforce.

Finalists

NSW Ambulance –Statewide Mechanic Training Program

Wellington Free Ambulance –Podcasting as a Clinical Tool

St John WA –

St John WA Critical Care Paramedic Internship

Excellence in Patient Care

Recognising patient experience, improvement, or innovation.

When making their submission to this category, each service is emboldened to examine ways that their organisation has assisted specific patient cohorts where learnings were of benefit to the field of paramedicine.

Previous submissions have included Clinical Response to a Global Pandemic, Virtual Emergency Medicine and assisting high frequency 000 callers.

Finalists

Ambulance Victoria –

Ambulance Victoria’s Residential Aged Care Enhanced Response (RACER)

Hato Hone St John –

Closing the Gap – integrating health care to improve patient outcomes

Wellington Free Ambulance –

The Case for Pre-hospital Telestroke

Excellence in Leadership

Recognising management practise and operational improvement and innovation in: Management culture, open communication, accountability, management development, professional standards, and diversity of workforce; and operational protocols and work practices relative to how service delivery is provided.

When making their submission to this category, each service is encouraged to analyse the programmes they have implemented that paves the way in leadership for future generations.

Previous submissions have included National Safety & Quality Health Service Standards programme, the Double Chewing Project and the use of intentional leadership and Incident Management Systems to lead an organisation through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finalists

Queensland Ambulance Service –

Development of QAS Strategy 2022-2027

NSW Ambulance –

Ground to Air Radio Communications in Remote Areas

Hato Hone St John –

Improving Equity

Excellence in Mental Health & Wellbeing

First introduced in 2021, this category recognises innovation and excellence a service has provided both staff and patients in improvements in mental health and wellbeing, including programmes, training and support.

When making their submission to this category, each service is encouraged to share their undertakings in mental health and wellbeing for all stakeholders in the ambulance sector, including patients, staff, and leaders.

Previous submissions have included Medic Fit, MyPulse Health & Wellbeing programme and Telemental HEaLth Pilot – TeleHELP.

Finalists

Queensland Ambulance Service –

Ambulance Wish Queensland

Ambulance Victoria –

Ambulance Victoria Mental Health & Wellbeing

Action Plan 2022-2025

Wellington Free Ambulance –

Review of Shift Pattern and Fatigue at Wellington Free Ambulance

Anastasia Bougesis

From disaster zones and the wilds of Antarctica to the hushed ambience of expensive restaurants, three SA Ambulance Service staff are going well beyond their clinical scope to make the world a better place.

L A J

Laura Drexler

Dr James Doube

They’ve branched out from their ambulance ‘day jobs’ into new fields, demonstrating the diverse skills, knowledge and experience of our ambulance community.

In this edition of First, we’re proud to introduce you to SAAS Interim Chief Medical Officer, Dr James Doube and paramedics Anastasia Bougesis and Laura Drexler who have received Flinders University alumni awards recognising their achievements, not just in paramedicine but also outside the clinical realm.

ASAAS paramedic for 15 years, Anastasia Bougesis now combines part-time paramedic work with her role as Head of Government Relations for Disaster Relief Australia.

Disaster Relief Australia is an organisation that coordinates volunteer teams to help clean up the mess that inevitably follows natural disasters.

In recent years, Anastasia has been at the forefront of disaster relief efforts across Australia and even the British Virgin Islands where she was Mission Commander of an international mission after those islands were devastated by successive hurricanes.

“After the initial emergency services responders leave a disaster site, there is no-one else to provide the essential clean-up work that we do, especially for vulnerable residents like people with disabilities and the elderly,” says Anastasia.

Anastasia has also been instrumental in expanding DRA and gaining government funding for the organisation, and as SA Chapter Lead for the Australasian Women in Emergencies Network, she is mentoring other women and working to build a culture of acceptance and respect for women in a previously male-dominated field.

Disaster Relief Australia has a workforce of volunteers across Australia, comprising mostly military veterans and people from emergency services, including about 180 from the ambulance sector.

If you’d like to get involved, visit disasterreliefaus.org

Anastasia Bougesis A force of nature

Dr DoubeJames To Antartica and beyond

Dr James Doube’s diverse interests have also taken him far beyond his day job as SAAS Interim Chief Medical Officer and Medical Retrieval Consultant…all the way to Antarctica where he has undertaken a number of missions in medical, search and rescue and voyage support roles.

While working for the Australian Antarctic Program, James was also heavily involved with an ambitious conservation project to eradicate rats, rabbits and mice from remote Macquarie Island, and subsequently assisted on similar programs on South Georgia Island and the New Zealand sub-Antarctic islands.

“Macquarie Island used to be tinged brown as all the vegetation had been eaten by the introduced pests. Now it’s vivid green, with vegetation that can be seen from 10 kilometres offshore which has led to permanent environmental benefits,” said James.

“And by removing the rats from South Georgia Island, we’ve enabled more than 150 million pairs of breeding seabirds to return to the island for safe nesting,” said James.

James is also engaged in another conservation project at his home on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island where he’s helping to rebuild the population of endangered dunnarts after bushfires swept through the island in 2019-20, installing cat-proof fencing to create a safe haven for the tiny marsupials.

On the medical front, James is also a registered paramedic, rural GP on Kangaroo Island and has undertaken humanitarian and healthcare missions in the Philippines and Pacific countries.

Photo courtesy of Martin Benevente

Laura Drexler’s passion has taken her to a quieter place, after 20 years as a SAAS paramedic and patient transfer officer.

Laura undertook a Masters of Audiology in 2019, with her interest in audiology sparked partly by her experience attending ambulance patients with vertigo and communication issues.

Her Masters research project focused on the impact of hearing loss on family dinners but the interviews revealed that it was restaurant dining where people had the most difficulty.

“That was where they felt isolated, missed out on conversation, felt exhausted from increased listening effort, and would rather avoid that situation all together than catch up with friends,” said Laura.

“Even in a quiet restaurant, the background noise levels are above the standard speaking volume, so people with hearing difficulties really struggle to hear conversations,” said Laura.

These revelations motivated Laura to establish the Ambient Menu web app which allows people to find and rate acoustic-friendly restaurants. See more at theambientmenu.com.au

In her work as an audiologist Laura has a focus on educating patients and their families on communication strategies so they feel confident and empowered in engaging in conversation and social gatherings again. Laura was also recently presented with another award from Audiology Australia.

To read more about James, Anastasia and Laura, go to shorturl.ac/saas

Photo courtesy of Brenton Edwards

Laura Drexler Taking the din

out of dinner

Take your career to the next level

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Enrol directly into the online Master of Paramedicine or start with a graduate certificate and build to your ideal qualification.

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If you’re thinking of starting with a graduate certificate and building to a master’s, we’ve got great news – study is now even more affordable. Apply now to study and save on your fees for a Graduate Certificate of Paramedicine with a Commonwealth supported place (CSP) in 2023 and save over $8,700. Plus, with a CSP you’ll be able to apply for a HECS-HELP loan and defer payment to a later date.

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Callum Shepherd Master of Paramedicine Paramedic – Hazardous Area Response Team London Ambulance Service

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In some states, you need a postgraduate qualification (at a minimum of a graduate diploma level) to apply for intensive care, critical care and extended care roles. So you know that with us, you’ll achieve the qualification level that’s right for you.

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Australasian College of Paramedicine’s inaugural Critical Care Summit draws hundreds of participants

More than 200 paramedics, academics, students, and other health professionals took part, both in person and online, in the Australasian College of Paramedicine’s inaugural biennial Critical Care Summit held over two days in Tweed Heads in May.

Replacing our long-running Trauma on the Border conference, the Summit marked the start of a new 2023 College conference calendar that features two major events tailored to the research, academic and clinical practice needs of Australasia’s paramedics. Themed “Contemporary care through collaboration”, the event was structured to provide education about critical care practice, improving and fostering the relationship between the professions of paramedicine, nursing and medicine, and providing a pathway for aspiring critical care clinicians to become involved.

Organised by the College’s Critical Care Summit Committee Co-Chairs Dr Ben Meadley and Tim Andrews, the event brought together guest speakers and presenters from a range of disciplines, including keynote speaker Dr Sanj Fernando, an emergency physician working in Sydney and one of the two Co-Directors of DevelopingEM, a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to support acute care and critical care services across the globe.

Dr Fernando kicked off the Summit with a presentation focused on his collaboration with Suwasiriya (Sri Lanka’s ambulance service) to build a pre-hospital service from the ground up, as well as the success of this global project that now services a country with a population of 21 million.

Another highlight of the Critical Care Summit included a live presentation on paediatric airway management, where, with the assistance of a child mannequin, presenters demonstrated the techniques used to assist paediatric patients when faced with airway emergencies.

Along with discussions on the latest research and tools to reduce the stress on critical care clinicians when caring for unwell children, attendees were also engaged in presentations on “The Art of Low Fidelity Simulation” and “Ethical Critical Care”, as well as discussions that focused on adapting to challenges in critical care, and critical care procedure demonstrations.

Live podcast recordings were held for “This Emergency Life”, presented by Dr Cliff Connell, and the College’s “Advocacy in Conversation” podcast, hosted by CEO John Bruning, which examined why advocacy was important to the future of paramedicine, contemporary health reform and team-based, person-centred care.

The event was well-received by all participants, with delegates appreciating the “diverse speakers and presenters on a broad range of topics”; the “great content and engaging speakers”; “the variety of speakers from different organisations, different states, different qualifications from doctors through to ICPs/CCPs”; and “the knowledge of the presenters, how easy it was to approach the presenters and other senior individuals to have discussions”.

The College thanks all who took part and our sponsors, Charles Sturt University, Edith Cowan University and Monash University, and our trade sponsors, Diagnostica Stago and ZOLL Medical, who helped make the Critical Care Summit the success that it was.

The second major gathering on our College calendar this year is our flagship event, the Australasian College of Paramedicine International Conference 2023 (ACPIC23) being held at the Crown Conference Centre in Melbourne from 13-15 September. Themed “LeadEvolve - Impact”, and coinciding with the College’s 50th anniversary, we will again bring together a diverse range of presenters, speakers, and attendees from across Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

To book your ticket and find out more, visit www.paramedics.org/ACPIC2023. The College is also offering Education Grants of up to $500 to attend ACPIC23. Applications close on Friday 21 July. Those interested in applying can write to: membership@paramedics.org

We look forward to seeing old friends and new faces at ACPIC23 in Melbourne is what will be an exciting program and a packed event schedule.

The First Voice of HelpCall Takers and Dispatchers in Emergency Services

From Victoria’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Agency (ESTA)

Every day, paramedics and ambulance crews save lives and respond to emergencies, but behind the scenes, there is another group of unsung heroes who play a pivotal role in emergency response - Call Takers and Dispatchers.

They are the first point of contact for those in an emergency, the calm voices on the other end of the line, offering reassurance, gathering vital information, and coordinating the response that could mean the difference between life and death.

Emily Prentice, Stefi Hufer, and Eden Haddick are emergency communications officers at Victoria’s Emergency Services Telecommunications Agency (ESTA), who manage the Triple Zero service in Victoria. Uniquely, Victoria

operates an integrated call taking and dispatch model, independent of emergency services organisations and housed under one roof.

Their experiences highlight the crucial work of ESTA Call Takers and Dispatchers, and the unique opportunities and challenges that come with the role.

For Emily, the path to becoming a call taker began during her studies in nursing and paramedicine. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic that ESTA caught her attention.

“I liked that there were flexible options, so people at university can still apply and train while studying,” she says.

In a role where every second counts, Call Takers like Emily face the challenge of handling a wide range of calls.

“Having empathy and understanding for our callers is really important. We get a broad range of calls, and we need to get as much information as we can in a short space of time,” she says.

“Often, we need to get the callers to follow instructions to help the patient, like performing CPR, and that part is crucial because it can be lifesaving.”

Comprehensive training equips Call Takers with necessary skills, but real-life traumas can be stressful. Support systems such as psychologists, peer support officers, team leader debriefs, and colleague interactions help maintain their mental health.

“Having empathy and understanding for our callers is really important. We get a broad range of calls, and we need to get as much information as we can in a short space of time."

“We’re all really supportive of each other,” she says. “If you don’t look after yourself, you can't look after other people.”

Stefi’s journey as a Call Taker began soon after high school while studying paramedicine and nursing.

“I didn’t think I was experienced enough or old enough, but I was really interested in the behind-thescenes of it all,” explains Stefi.

Despite her initial doubts about her capabilities and age, Stefi has been a standout Call Taker for over two years and has recently started working as a Dispatcher, coordinating the emergency response.

As a Dispatcher, Stefi gathers information from Call Takers and relays this information to ambulance crews, actively communicating with them so they can provide the best care for their patients.

“Often, people who work on the road don’t realise how much actually goes on behind the scenes,” she says.

“Paramedics rely heavily on Call Takers and Dispatchers. It’s our job to make sure that people on the road have all the information they need to help the person on the other end of the line.”

Stefi explains that active listening and attention to detail are really important skills for this job.

“I had a caller who described a fall, but in the background, I overheard someone saying the patient’s facial expressions looked different. With more questions, I found out that he had weakness in his legs, and one side was slightly worse than the other,” she explains.

“I was able to gather information indicative of a potential stroke. Picking up on information like this dramatically changes the emergency response.”

Despite the challenges, Stefi finds immense fulfillment in her role. The best feeling, as Stefi vividly recalls, is hearing a newborn cry or receiving heartfelt thanks from grateful parents after helping them give birth. However it can be stressful, particularly if the baby is not born breathing.

“The first 30 seconds of silence after birth, where I ask the parent to briskly rub the baby up and down the back to make sure they are alive and well, is really unsettling,” she describes.

“It feels like the longest 30 seconds of my life, and all that is going through my mind is ‘please cry.’ So, when you hear the baby cry for the first time, and you know that they are alive – the relief that you feel and the excitement is overwhelming. It is a surreal feeling to think that I have helped someone bring life into this world.”

For Eden, the path to becoming a Call Taker stemmed from a lifelong passion for helping others. Like Stefi, she’s also helped with a couple of births while on the job.

“I have delivered two baby girls in the time I’ve been here. The first one was on my first day of call taking on my own,” she explains.

“I had just finished training. My team leader came to check on me, and I turned around to let her know I had just delivered a baby. Everyone was super excited because it doesn’t happen very often. And to get one on my first day was pretty special.”

With her calm and composed demeanor, Eden serves as the first point of contact for people in an emergency, gathering vital information and dispatching the appropriate resources to the scene.

Although her official title is "Call Taker," her responsibilities go far beyond simply taking down information. Eden's role is to instill a sense of trust and confidence in the callers, providing them with support and guidance until help arrives.

"I am there to be a voice of reassurance, to let them know that help is on the way and that they are not alone," she says.

Eden has handled countless emergencies, ranging from minor incidents to life-threatening situations. Each call is a unique challenge, requiring her to think quickly and make crucial decisions in high-pressure situations.

“Our voice is the only thing helping them get through the crisis they are in. It is nice to be able to help people. We may not be able to save everyone, but we help a lot of people, and that is the best part.”

Emily, Stefi, and Eden’s unwavering commitment and professionalism ensure emergency responses are coordinated seamlessly, ultimately making a difference in the lives of countless individuals and their families.

If you are someone with a strong sense of empathy, excellent communication skills, and the ability to remain calm under pressure, a career as a Call Taker or Dispatcher in emergency services is a path worth exploring.

To find out more about working at ESTA, go to https://jobs.esta.vic.gov.au

Two best friends. One incredible mission. The story of Blue Light Card.

Now that Blue Light Card has welcomed Australia into its global community, co-founders Tom Dalby and Steve Denny reflect on what the business has achieved over the past 14 years – and what it means to them and millions of frontline workers to be here.

Blue Light Card, the discount service exclusively for frontline workers and emergency services volunteers, launched in the UK in 2008. But its origins started much earlier, when two eight-year-old boys became best mates.

From Left to Right: Tracey Duff (General Manager Blue Light Card), Steve Denny (Co-founder Blue Light Card), Mojca Bizjak-Mikic (General Manager CAA) and Tom Dalby (Co-founder Blue Light Card)

The seed of an idea

Steve Denny and Tom Dalby met at primary school, and quickly bonded “We delivered newspapers and did other odd jobs. Even at that age we knew we wanted to work together,” remembers Steve.

After high school the boys went in different directions – Tom to university and then work, Steve into the police force – but they stayed close. It was in a session at the gym that the seed for Blue Light Card was planted.

As a police officer Steve had seen a gap between members of the public wanting to show their gratitude to frontline workers, and how workers could accept discounts or savings ethically. “Officers were discouraged from accepting small discounts because it was seen by the force as bribery but the community and local businesses really wanted to say thank you” he explains.

Tom understood the public’s need to show support for the officers and others in the community who often put themselves in harm’s way for people they don’t know. “I was at Steve’s swearing-in ceremony when he became an officer, and there was a lot of talk about the community being there to support these incredible people who do this really hard job.”

And it isn’t just police officers who do a tough job. Tom and Steve were inspired by what Blue Light Card could mean to more people, and they were motivated by their own personal experiences to include the wider frontline and first responder services.

“When we had complications with our first child the hospital staff were absolutely incredible” recalls Steve. “I don’t even know how they did it, but it was amazing to watch. And everyone will need that kind of help sometimes – hopefully not often, but sometimes. So, we knew first-hand why people wanted to give back and say thank you. But there was no way to do that. Blue Light Card was the answer.”

Making a difference every day

Tom and Steve launched Blue Light Card in the UK from Steve’s spare room in 2008. Their childhood dream of running a business together became a reality.

Fast forward to 2023, the UK business has 3.2 million members, partners with some of the biggest global brands and saved frontline members over £250 million last year. In the UK and Australia, members can access exclusive, best-in-market discounts and offers from top brands and local businesses.

While the organisation has changed and grown, the mission stays the same: a commitment to do more for the frontline workers Blue Light Card is here to support, by helping them save money.

Blue Light Card in Australia

When it came to expanding Blue Light Card, Tom and Steve say Australia was the obvious choice.

“There’s a clear allegiance between the UK and Australia – apart from when it comes to cricket,” smiles Tom. “In all seriousness though, impacts of the bushfires, floods and the pandemic have called all Australian frontline workers and volunteers to action in recent years. The community wants to give back and show gratitude for what the SES volunteers, nurses, firefighters, paramedics and others have done, and are still doing. Blue Light Card makes that possible.”

It’s why General Manager, Tracey Duff, is so proud to lead Blue Light Card in Australia: “To know that each day I come to work, I get to help thousands of frontline workers and their families just as they have helped us so many times is the most amazing feeling. I am so grateful to be a part of a company with such an important purpose.”

“Blue Light Card isn’t just a job to us, and the people who work with us would all say the same,” Tom continues. “We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are today, including launching in Australia, without our incredible team. They share our vision and believe in what we’re doing for members.”

Blue Light Card launch partnership with Starbucks 2021

million frontline members Blue Light reaches 10 members of staff.

Blue Light Card launches in Australia

3.2 million members

brand partners

Donate over £100k to national emergency services charities £250 million saved by members

College consultation papers will help guide the future development of paramedicine

By John Bruning, CEO, Australasian College of Paramedicine

The rapid advancements in paramedicine, scopes of practice and specialisations, paramedic education, and professional registration in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand in recent decades have fundamentally transformed the profession and are helping to reshape the health landscape to better address public health needs and bridge existing health system gaps.

Once confined to jurisdictional ambulance services, paramedics are now working throughout the health sector and are increasingly taking their place in community and primary health settings as part of multidisciplinary teams delivering responsive, holistic, and accessible healthcare for communities.

As a future-focused organisation and as the peak professional body representing paramedics in Australasia, the College provides a respected voice in determining how changes in health service provision, legislation and clinical practice are shaped and implemented to enhance the quality of patient care.

As such, we have released four consultation papers - covering paramedicine as a standalone profession, the clinical practice framework, professional practice programs, and the paramedic workforce - to help guide and shape the future development of paramedicine.

The consultation papers are aimed at engaging with and soliciting input from College members, paramedics, paramedic students and stakeholders on these key issues. The feedback gathered through the consultation process will be used to support the College in its efforts to advance paramedicine through advocacy with government and key stakeholders. The papers can be read on our website advocacy page.

The “Paramedicine: Recognition as a standalone profession” paper is framed within the context of the health workforce crisis facing both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and the need to look at the critical factors contributing to workforce barriers and consumer access. With the expansion of paramedic roles and capabilities, patients now increasingly receive live-saving treatment and out-of-hospital care from paramedics. The College believes that paramedics’ unique capabilities befit standalone representation and recognition that is separate to medicine to ensure the profession charts its own course and is realising its full potential.

The “Paramedicine: Draft Clinical Practice Framework for Australasia” paper proposes a structure that is designed to support paramedicine’s development and clarify career opportunities and requirements. It captures the full breadth of clinical practice and acknowledges the many contributions paramedics are making, and will continue to make, across the health sector in many different capacities. It utilises a four-level model, with the view to developing a similar model for education, research, and leadership and management.

The “Professional Practice Programs” paper is aimed at providing a structured and recognised experiential program to support paramedics through the first five years of practice, enhancing the clinical capability of all paramedics and supporting specialist practice.

This structured approach will define the learning, teaching and assessment required for each stage of development. The history of the College and our key role in driving training and education improvements see the College as a key partner in driving excellence in paramedicine.

HAVE YOUR SAY

The final consultation paper, “Building a Future-ready Paramedic Workforce”, addresses core systemic issues and explores the following priority areas: Creating positive work environments; supporting diversity, inclusion and cultural safety in the workforce; supporting and engaging paramedics to work to their full potential; aligning capabilities (education, postgraduate and industry qualifications); and attracting and retaining the workforce.

Further stakeholder engagement will take place following collation of the feedback received on the consultation papers, and the College looks forward to bringing everyone within the profession along as we set out the future vision for paramedicine.

We encourage you to add your voice and provide feedback as we work together to collaboratively shape the future of paramedicine in Australasia - one that is representative of who we are now as a profession and how we will continue to evolve in the years ahead.

We encourage you to add your voice and provide feedback as we work together to collaboratively shape the future of paramedicine in Australasia.”

By Dr Angela Dos Santos

Successful ischaemic stroke treatment with thrombolysis or endovascular clot retrieval is heavily time-dependant. For every minute a stroke remains untreated, approximately two million neurons have died2

Health professionals are focused on treating patients as quickly as possible after the stroke symptoms and signs occur. The most important and critical time is the first “golden hour” after stroke onset. If a patient can be treated within this time frame, the chances of resolution of symptoms and complete recovery is very high3

More than 450,000 Australians are currently living with disability caused by stroke, and by 2050 this is expected to surpass 1 million1 .

Stroke is one of Australia’s leading causes of death and disability and causes significant economic and health burden.

To hasten treatment of stroke patients, Australia’s first and currently only Mobile Stroke Unit (MSU) has been in operation since 2017. MSUs are unique ambulances fitted with a CT-scanner and experienced stroke specialised multi-disciplinary team that allows assessment, imaging, and treatment prior to reaching the hospital4

There are roughly 30 MSUs globally across five continents.

Suspected stroke patients can immediately be loaded onboard for neuroimaging and eligible patients can be administered thrombolysis. Patients needing thrombectomy or neurosurgical intervention can be diagnosed in the community and transported directly to a specialised centre with these capabilities, bypassing the local hospital where necessary. This avoids the need for an additional inter-hospital transfer.

Many more trails have been published that support the use of Mobile Stroke Units and now in Australia, if you live in a Metropolitan city, being treated by an MSU is regarded as best practise and has been incorporated into the Australian stroke clinical guidelines as level 1 evidence6

However, not all patients that experience a stroke live in metropolitan Australia, hence innovative solutions are needed to increase the number of patients that can be treated in the prehospital setting and “golden hour”. If this were possible, it would significantly reduce the number of stroke patients with lifelong disability.

One of the first clinical trials with an MSU in 2012 demonstrated reduced time from MSU dispatch to thrombolysis by a median of 41-minutes (35 vs 76 minutes, p<0.0001) compared to if they had arrived in the emergency department via ambulance5

One avenue being explored is the possibility of Stroke Smart Ambulances. A standard ambulance, with an imaging device capable of differentiating the stroke type and allowing the team onsite, with specialist neurologist support via telehealth using the Zeus Platform (www.titanneuro.com/zeus) to treat accordingly.

The Melbourne MSU carries a CereTom (Samsung Neurological Corp.) scanner and a team of five healthcare workers including: neurologist, nurse, radiographer and two paramedics.

EMVision Gen 2 point-of-care brain scanner pictured.

For every minute a stroke remains untreated, approximately two million neurons have died

Electromagnetic imaging, in the microwave frequency band, is an emerging technology which promises to provide rapid and non-invasive neuroimaging at the point-of-care. Due to its portability, utilisation of non-ionising energy and the ongoing miniaturisation of the systems being developed by Australian medical device company EMVision, it is now being trialled to support the on-scene evaluation of time sensitive medical emergencies such as stroke and with plans to assess traumatic brain injury.

Electromagnetic imaging, in this work in the 500 MHz – 2 GHz range, looks at the dielectric properties (permittivity and conductivity) of different tissue types, including healthy tissue and lesions.

Earlier experimental data in animal models has shown that the dielectric permittivity of haemorrhagic brain tissue is increased by 10–20% compared to healthy tissue, while in ischaemic tissue it is reduced by 10–20% compared to healthy tissue7 EMVision with their own unique techniques have demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study conducted at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane with 50 confirmed stroke patients, an ability to recognise lesions and differentiate between ischaemic or haemorrhagic nature8

The EMVision technology is currently undergoing hospital trials at major comprehensive stroke centres with a larger sample size of suspected stroke patients.

The first-generation cart-based version of the technology that is the subject of these trials, can be operated by any healthcare professional with the appropriate training, and has potential applications in stroke wards, ICUs and remote communities.

Next year, a lightweight (<10 kg) second generation helmet version of the technology (pictured left), designed to be deployed at the scene by paramedics, with images transmitted via the Zeus telehealth platform to clinicians, is scheduled for road and air ambulance trials.

With the Australian Stroke Alliance leading the way, the ambition of the EMVision technology is to support earlier triage and transfer decisions, helping identify those patients that may meet surgical criteria, so they can be taken directly to a comprehensive stroke centre, alongside opening the door to earlier tPA treatment for eligible patients, potentially saving millions of brain cells and reducing the impact of one of the leading causes of disability globally.

References

1. (Tan 1. E et al. The economic and health burden of stroke among younger adults in Australia from a societal perspective. BMC Public Health. 2022;22).

2. (Saver JL. Time is brain--quantified Stroke. 2006;37(1):263-6).

3. (Ma H et al. Thrombolysis Guided by Perfusion Imaging up to 9 Hours after Onset of Stroke New England Journal of Medicine. 2019;380(19):1795-803)

4. (Fassbender K et al. Mobile stroke units for prehospital thrombolysis, triage, and beyond: benefits and challenges Lancet Neurol. 2017;16(3):227-37).

5. (Walter S et al. Diagnosis and treatment of patients with stroke in a mobile stroke unit versus in hospital: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet Neurol. 2012;11(5):397-404.

Dr Angela Dos Santos, Neurologist (Brain Specialist) Senior clinical research fellow

Australian Stroke Alliance Fellow, Dr Angela Dos Santos is a proud Kwiamble and Gumbaynggirr woman and Australia’s first Aboriginal neurologist. Angela is a key clinical expert for the Alliance’s aeromedical prehospital retrieval plans, is co-chair of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Council, and is a member of their Pre-hospital Stroke Council. Her doctoral research is focused on stroke in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

The Australian Stroke Alliance have partnered with EMVision Medical Devices Ltd and aims to provide portable, non-ionising, rapid neuroimaging for prehospital and bedside stroke evaluation.

6. (Stroke Foundation. Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management. Available at https://informme.org.au/ guidelines/living-clinical-guidelinesfor-stroke-management. Accessed [30th June 2023]).

7. (Semenov SY, Corfield DR. Microwave tomography for brain imaging: feasibility assessment for stroke detection. Int J Antennas Propag. 2008; 2008:1–8.)

8. (Cook D, Brown H, Widanapathirana I, et al. Case report: Preliminary images from an electromagnetic portable brain scanner for diagnosis and monitoring of acute stroke. Front Neurol. 2021; 12:765412.)

A way forward would be the development of light weight imaging device that can be carried in an ambulance, much like a portable ECG machine and most importantly, can be operated by anyone.

CAA Strategy Plan 2023 – 2028

As the peak body for the Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea ambulance sector, the CAA works tirelessly to collaborate on emergency ambulance sector issues of metropolitan, regional, national, and international significance.

Since our creation in 1962, the CAA has provided our ambulance service members Australasia-wide with opportunities for the exchange of knowledge, networking, and expert advice.

Following consultation and discussion amongst a wide range of stakeholders, this year the CAA takes on the first year of implementation of our 2023-2028 Strategy.

The strategy enables us to determine why we do what we do, encourages us to identify the needs and challenges of our member services and the wider ambulance sector, and allows us to take steps to action changes and programs where necessary.

Across New Zealand and Australia in 2021-22 financial year.

Key Pillars

The three core pillars that have been established through the strategy are:

Advocacy

The Council of Ambulance Authorities (CAA) is committed to providing a unified voice for the ambulance sector with the aim to provide our members and the wider sector support and guidance in all matters relating to ambulance service delivery.

FOCUS

• Be the peak body and provide a unified voice for the Australasian ambulance sector.

• Provide an Australasian voice to the global ambulance space.

• Building relationships with National and State/Territory Governments.

• Continue to expand CAA’s relationship with associated organisations working across health, emergency management, and volunteer fields.

Knowledge & Information

Providing the sector with ways to connect, share, exchange ideas and build strong relationships that span across borders and oceans, is something CAA has excelled at and will continue in the future.

FOCUS

• Provide networking opportunities for all members of the Australasian ambulance sector, with internal and external parties.

• Update the CAA Groups structure to ensure the best methods for inter-agency exchange and knowledge sharing.

• Continue to build strong data collections and analytics portfolios, providing timely informative statistics.

• Work to grow CAA’s internal research capacity and develop strong partnering opportunities.

As well as the three key pillars above, longer term the CAA will focus on:

The Role of the Ambulance Sector

The last decade has brought many challenges for our services.

Changing times and needs of our community and patients require our sector to evolve in order to meet these demands.

Demand Management

Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea ambulance services cared for 4.5 million patients in 2020-21, and of these transported 3.8 million patients to hospital. The demand for ambulance services has grown on average 21% since 201314, causing a strain on staff and resources.

Learning & Development

CAA will work to create strong learning and development programs by collaborating with universities and member services, and developing CAA specific programs and tools to ensure the Australasian ambulance teams continue to have world class education and training.

FOCUS

• Engage with internal and external partners to develop CAA endorsed leadership and management development programs.

• Continue working on ensuring more women step into leadership roles, and grow this program to be inclusive of diverse communities, especially First Nations people.

• Look towards developing standardised Clinical Guidelines

• Develop career pathways and monitor and support changes to paramedic and other ambulance service roles.

Changing Workforce

There are a multitude of challenges our workforce faces, such as staff shortages and non-equitable culture – not only by gender split but lack of minority groups and First Nations representation. Coupled with the most recent demand growth and a global pandemic which has pushed us clinically, mentally, and challenged our resilience and resolve.

You can learn more about our Strategy Plan for 2023-2028, by visiting caa.net.au/caa-strategy

Ambulance Sustainability

In 2020-21, Australasian ambulance services travelled 182,397,610 km by road and spent 39,625 hours flying in the air. We need to look at practices that will offer a more sustainable future for our teams and community.

in Ambulance Sustainability

Ahead of World Environment Day on June 5th, here at the CAA we asked ourselves the question, ‘What is Sustainability in Ambulance’?

You’ll see from the article on page 60 that as part of the 5 Year Strategy a deeper dive and formal approach is intended on the subject, but for now the first thing to work out is what do we mean by ‘sustainability’?

A good starting point, with help from the Oxford Dictionary, is that sustainability is “the degree to which a process or enterprise can be maintained or continued while avoiding the long-term depletion of natural resources.” That is, how long can we keep doing a thing until that thing has a negative or detrimental impact on the world around us.

As the world continues to grapple with the challenges posed by climate change, sustainability is a key issue that must be addressed in all sectors, including healthcare.

Ambulance services can play a critical role in promoting sustainability and reducing their environmental impact, making World Environment Day an important opportunity to highlight the importance of sustainability in our sector.

As we all know, ambulance services are essential to the health and wellbeing of communities around the world. They provide life-saving care to people in need, often in emergency situations. However, ambulance services also have a significant environmental impact. For example, they consume energy and resources, generate waste, and contribute to air pollution through their use of vehicles.

One important strategy is to continue to investigate, and where possible, adopt more efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. This can include the use of hybrid or electric vehicles, which produce lower emissions and are more fuel efficient than traditional gasolinepowered vehicles. Many Australasian ambulance services already use bicycles to assist in environments where speed is still paramount but getting through crowds would be impossible for a motor vehicle.

Another area worth considering is, so long as it is operationally safe to do so, ambulance services can practise and adopt eco-driving practices, including driving at lower speeds and avoiding unnecessary idling.

Many industries are closely examining their supply chain and consumables usage with the aim of reducing waste generation. This can be done in many different ways, and as we saw in FIRST #12, initiatives such as St John NT’s uniform recycling initiative helps reduce landfill and textile waste.

A part of a review of an organisation’s consumable also covers the use of facility resources, implementing energy-efficient lighting and HVAC (heating, airconditioning and ventilation) if possible and, as an example for our sector, promoting telehealth and other remote healthcare services to reduce the need for ambulance transport.

World Environment Day 2023 is a great opportunity to promote sustainability in ambulance services as well as to showcase sustainability efforts and to promote best practices. If you are aware of positive initiatives underway in your organisation, why not let us know so we can share it in the next edition of FIRST, in our regular email newsletter or even our social media channels. It might even make a good entry for the 2024 CAA Awards for Excellence.

There are however several ways that ambulance services can plan for and promote sustainability.

Our community

From Warzone to Trainee Paramedic

Prior to Oli Badin pursuing a career with NSW Ambulance, he fulfilled numerous roles and jobs to help others in need. In 2017 he spent seven weeks volunteering as a translator in an Iraqi war zone. During this time Oli was able to work at a clinic with a refugee camp, where 10,000 people live after being displaced from their homes. Through this he would assist treating people with some basic medical interventions. Oli who currently works out of Balgowlah Station stated, “the memorable experience had also served him well for his current role as a trainee paramedic”.

St John Papua New Guinea Receive a Donation from The Rotary Club of Port Moresby

The Rotary Club of Port Moresby have generously contributed a donation to St John Papua New Guinea, to support the ambulance wash bay. This will assist in purchasing useful and important equipment to maintain their ambulances.

Opportunities for Numerous WA Schools to Receive the Free First Aid Focus Program

St John WA received a generous donation at the Telethon7 Giving Ceremony. Providing the opportunity to deliver the Free First Aid Focus program, to remotely disadvantaged schools, special education schools and students attending alternative education pathways within WA.

Hand-knitted dolls donated to the Wellington Free Ambulance station in Masterton

Two ladies from Wairarapa Village kindly donated a bag full of beautiful, knitted dolls, to the Wellington Free Ambulance station in Masterton. These dolls will be kept on the ambulances to provide comfort to patients, young or old. This is such a kind and generous gesture for our member, Wellington Free Ambulance.

Royal Flying Doctor Services, Blast from the Past

Royal Flying Doctor Service Education Manager Captain Tom had a blast from the past when he bumped into a student from a school that he visited in Tasmania nearly 10 years ago. They were photographed to promote the Flying Doctor’s education program and couldn’t resist recreating the image that was published in the Launceston newspaper, ‘The Examiner’.

QueenslandAmbulanceService CelebrateQueenslandDay, FamilyDayheldinAlgester

QueenslandAmbulanceServiceparamedics andLocalAmbulanceCommittee(LAC) volunteerswereonhandtoassistthe communityinshowcasingtheirCPRskills andpromotetheimportanceoffirstaid.

St John WA Walpole Team are enjoying their new mural

The St John WA Walpole team are enjoying their new mural created by David Johnson APM, at Great Southern Signs. The mural highlights the depot’s history and pays homage to the late Dr Bruce Burnside and the volunteers who serve their community.

Ambulance Victoria Paramedics visit Creative Garden Early Learning students

Ambulance Victoria paramedics Cem and Natalie had the pleasure of visiting Creative Garden Early Learning students in Point Cook recently, where some very enthusiastic students had a lot of questions. Their mission is to make sure that these amazing kids feel safe and at ease during any crisis situation.

St John NT’s highly respected business and community leader, Roland Chin AM C StJ was promoted to a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John St John NT’s highly respected business and community leader, Roland Chin AM C StJ was promoted to a Knight of Grace of the Order of St John at an Investiture Ceremony at the Government House. Roland has served St John NT as a distinguished volunteer Board member for the past 21 years, including most recently the role of Treasurer since 2018.

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

Device Technologies

Since 1992 we have been dedicated to improving patients’ lives through leading-edge medical technologies and services such as defibrillation & monitoring, mechanical CPR, ventilation, airway management products, and vascular access solutions to the pre-hospital sector.

device.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

Mercedes-Benz

One of the world’s largest manufacturers of commercial vehicles, offering tailored fleet solutions for new and existing customers. The future is electric, with a strong electric portfolio of Vans, with our goal to offer electrified models across its entire range.

mercedes-benz.com.au/vans/en

Laerdal

Laerdal is dedicated to the mission of Helping Save Lives. We will do this through the advancement of resuscitation, patient safety and quality of healthcare, and saving lives at birth in low-resource settings.

laerdal.com/au/

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

When every second counts, Corvanta partners with out-of-hospital care providers to advance and deliver the technology they to deliver timely, integrated, patient-centric services to improve healthcare outcomes. corvanta.com

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 admin@caa.net.au

Mental Fitness: What is it and why does it matter?

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.

Mental fitness is a term that is getting used a lot more frequently these days. Riding on the back of the pandemic and with the extreme weather events we seem to be experiencing in many areas lately, it really feels like everyone is struggling with  something. I’ll put my hand up, even the most resilient of us are feeling it, so having strong mental fitness feels more important than ever right now.

But what does it actually mean to be mentally fit?

In psychology, mental fitness is loosely defined as creating a state of positive wellbeing and learning to cultivate awareness of how we think, behave, and feel.

Increasing mental fitness has tons of benefits, such as:

• Becoming more aware of your thoughts so they don’t control you

• Increasing your ability to focus and concentrate on tasks

• Building the resiliece to deal with the ups and downs of life

• Being able to confidently respond to a situation in the moment (rather than hours later after you’ve had time to think through your response)

• Learning to focus less on negative emotions and the challenges of your life, and more on what’s going well.

Just like we need to exercise our muscles in order to become physically fit, there’s a lot we can do to become more mentally fit, too.

One of the main ways to build mental fitness is to create a habit of being more mindful.

In his book The Confidence Gap: A guide to Overcoming Fear and Self-Doubt, author Russ Harris describes mindfulness as a “mental state of awareness, openness, and focus.”

“When we are mindful,” he writes, “we are able to engage fully in what we are doing, let go of unhelpful thoughts, and act effectively without being pushed around by our emotions.”

You might think of this as meditation, or even as ‘turning off the mind.’ But mindfulness and meditation are different; in meditation, you typically sit with your eyes closed and focus on your breath, how your body feels, or even the sounds around you. Mindfulness, on the other hand, can be practiced anywhere, in any situation, and yes, even at work!

Practicing mindfulness involves learning to be present and aware. You can be mindful of anything, for example, the colours in the sky and the trees around you, the warmth on your skin as you sit outside in the sun, or the words of someone you’re having a conversation with. By becoming more mindful, you’ll notice that you’re less reactive, more able to bounce back from surprises and setbacks, and more confident in your general ability to deal with life.

Want to “exercise” your mind and improve your mental fitness? Here are a few suggestions:

Build in periods of mindfulness throughout your day.

The easiest way to start doing this is to add mindfulness to habits you already have. For example, take a few minutes to do a body scan and connect to your breath before getting out of bed each morning. Or take a moment to savour the taste of your morning coffee as you take your first sip.

The more you practice being mindful, the easier it becomes. If you notice yourself getting caught up in your thoughts, you can gently turn your attention to the present. This way, you start to build it in naturally throughout your day.

Meditate regularly.

I know people who meditate for half an hour or more every single day. I am not one of them. Even sitting down to five to ten minutes of meditation is challenging for me.

But meditating has a whole host of benefits, including building the skill to become aware of your thoughts (rather than be controlled by them), improving focus and concentration, reducing anxiety, enhancing selfawareness, and so on. Meditating regularly for even just a short amount of time each day can supercharge your mental fitness.

There are a lot of different styles of meditation. The best thing to do is to experiment and find out which you connect with the most. I’m a big fan guided meditation, usually ones that are around ten minutes long. If you can’t do ten minutes, even a few minutes a day can make a difference over time.

Keep a gratitude journal.

Paying attention to what you’re grateful for trains your brain to look for the positive rather than always focus on the negative. Aim to write down at least three things you are grateful for every single day.

They don’t have to be big things, even small things such as eating fresh blueberries, the sun feeling warm on your face, or connecting with a friend over coffee all count. Try and look for new things each day, and don’t just repeat the same things every single day.

Keep track of your small wins.

Just like keeping a gratitude journal, the practice of keeping track of your wins trains your brain to look for what you did well instead of focus on all you’ve done wrong. Try journaling your wins and anything you did well (no matter how small) at the end of each day.

Train your body.

You can’t be mentally fit without being physically fit and healthy, too, especially in the work that we do, the hours we work, and the things we are exposed to. Physical and mental fitness are intertwined. Exercise, sleep, and good nutrition will go a long way to increase both your physical and mental fitness. Yes, you’ve heard me say this before!

What’s more, when you train your body, you’re training your mind as well. Teaching yourself that you can do difficult things whilst you’re exercising helps build confidence, increases mental toughness, and builds resilience. Becoming more comfortable with the feeling of being uncomfortable sets you up to take on more of life’s challenges. As a result, the mental skills you build during exercise or working out in the gym, will carry over to the rest of your life as well.

You’ve got this!

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

Viktor Frankl