Disaster & Emergency Medicine Project

Dear Nursing and General Practitioner Volunteers,

After some lengthy silence, I am again writing to you, to update you of progress and developments in the Program.

The Sherbrooke and Pakenham Division of General Practice can no longer afford to sponsor the Disaster and Emergency Medicine Project, and after generously supporting it during the formative year, has handed over the management to Dr. E. John Drinkwater, and myself. To save confusion, the name was changed slightly to Program. We thank the Division for its support.

John will take over the local management of the Program, as well as maintain the Website. I will be involved locally, but will concentrate on the national developments, as described below.

The Program has found an enormous amount of support across Victoria and Australia. We are seen as a prototype for a collaborative response to a major medical emergency (as disasters are now called).

In Victoria, GPs and Nurses are written into State Displan (now called Victoria State Medical Emergency Response Plan - March 1997) as first responders. Although our role is not fully detailed, it contains a framework within which we can develop.

In October, the Program was presented to the Annual RACGP Convention, and well accepted. My Article on the Program will be published in the Australian Family Physician, Dec. 1997 issue.

Research carried out by the Program on the skill availability, training needs, and attitudes to Emergency Management among rural General Practitioners has been submitted to AFP and should be published mid next year.

Also in October, we coordinated the Emergency Management Day of the first Multidisciplinary Education for Rural Health Professionals Conference at Monash Uni., which was attended by some of our Nursing Volunteers.

Unfortunately, notice was short and inadequate for many, and as the Day is likely to become an annual event, this will be rectified next year. Numbers will be limited, so keep an eye open. Those who did manage to get there, learnt about the multidisciplinary approach to medical disaster response, and in particular, the role of the Nurse in the team..

We have become one of the sponsoring organisations for the establishment of an Australian National Association of First Responders and Volunteers (ANAFRAV). As a result, all our members are granted free membership of the new Association, and I will keep you informed of progress. If anyone would rather not be a member of the new association, please let me know.

To date, we have "chapters" in Tasmania, ACT, Victoria and NSW. There have been a couple of steering group meetings of the association, and the first Annual General Meeting will take place at the EMS Australia ’98 Conference, in Melbourne, about 13^th March. This Conference covers a wide range of EMS issues, and is always worth attending. I will send out circulars when they become available.

Our program has seen 4 General Practitioners successfully attend the Emergency Management of Severe Trauma Course and one attend the Advanced Paediatric Life Support Course.

We have also become heavily involved in the setting up of a national Emergency Life Support (ELS) Course, based on the Emergency Management of Severe Trauma (EMST) and Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) formats. We hope to insert a strong rural influence over the course, and ensure rural General Practitioners and Nurses will have ready access to the course.

Some of you will have heard that DEMP was responsible for the provision of Emergency Medical Services personnel for a video to be used as the basis for a satellite telecast to all rural GPs. It centres around the effect on a country GP (and this could be any First Responder) of a major emergency in the town. This took place on Cup weekend and will be telecast on 2/12/97. We will have a copy for viewing at a later date.

Our Website is maintained by John Drinkwater, and is currently being updated. It has lots of info about the Program, and is worth a visit.

Locally, we have established DEMP as an integral part of the Emerald and District Disaster Plan (now "Local Emergency Plan"). On Nov 27, John and I attended the local Displan meeting in Emerald.

Emerald Medical Centre is officially the Triage Centre for the region, and the Oval nearby, the Medical Evacuation Point. The proximity of the other medical centres enables the 8 Emerald General Practitioners to respond as a team. We are arranging power backup and "displan" ‘phone lines. In the case of a major fire this season, unless Emerald is at its centre, DEMP HQ will be at the Emerald Medical Centre, as it was for the Jan 21, 1997 fires.

We intend to call a Medical Displan Meeting for the second week of December, and if anyone would like to attend, please let us know. This meeting should cover the whole of the area of the Division, and beyond.

John is updating the local database, and we’d be grateful for your early reply to his questionnaire.

I’m sure you will agree that DEMP is alive and well, but I hope we wont have to call upon your services this season.

Talking of Seasons, we wish you the very best for a peaceful and uneventful Merry Season, and that the New Year rains merrily on your patch.

George, John D. and Kay.

Send mail to john_drinkwater@onaustralia.com.au with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 1997 Disaster & Emergency Medicine Project
Last modified: December 07, 1997