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