Doctors and nurses working in remote Queensland are about to head back to the classroom to learn new skills in emergency medicine.
Specialists will volunteer their time to run a two-day course in Longreach this weekend, focusing on bush medicine in an emergency.
It is the first time the course has been run in remote Queensland.
Dr David Rimmer from the Central West Hospital and Health Service said the hour after an emergency incident was vital but country GPs often worked without the benefit of on-site specialists.
“We talk about the golden hour, and in that hour a lot of things are done that are crucial to a person’s survival and how well they survive,” he said.
“The organisation and systematic approach to that hour is extremely important.”
Emergency Life Support is a not-for-profit course that teaches skills and knowledge to doctors to help manage medical emergencies safely.
Dr Rimmer said the local health service had asked for some nurses to be involved in the training, because they were an integral part of small medical teams in bush emergencies.
“The most significant thing about this, is it is the first time that such a high quality emergency training course has been offered so far west and we think it is quite a coup for Longreach and our whole district training mentality,” he said.
“We are looking at having a ‘teaching culture’ and a culture that enables people to achieve outcomes, the equal of anywhere.”
Little change forecast to western Qld health services amid transition to Primary Health Networks
Meanwhile, Dr Rimmer said western Queenslanders would not notice a big difference to their health services, in the first year of operation of new Primary Health Networks.
Medicare Locals will cease from July 1 but they will be replaced with the networks.
In western Queensland, that will involve a collaboration made up of the three local hospital services in Queensland’s central west, north-west and south-west.
Dr Rimmer said while the details were still to be finalised, he would be surprised if any local services ceased, because the aim of the changes was to enhance services.
“It is very unlikely that any services will be lost,” he said.
“We actually believe that perhaps they may be a bit better targeted, so that the people who need the services most are getting more of the services.
“In the first 12 months there will be almost no visible change from the public’s point of view, after that after services are identified as being needed, we actually will have more opportunity to meet them.”
There has been some uncertainty over the future of services and programs provided by Medicare Local but Dr Rimmer said he did not expect significant change in the west.
“So the detail is yet to be worked out but in principle they [services] will almost certainly be rebadged or re-bannered but the actual services themselves will stay the same,” he said.