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.

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