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Australians prescribed EpiPen® or EpiPen® Jr are probably aware of changes made to administration of the EpiPen® autoinjector in the USA in 2016. Now that the USA manufacturer, Mylan, has permission from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to make the changes in Australia advice on administration of the EpiPen® has also changed in Australia.
The devices have not changed, just the instructions on the label, which now include:
Reduced injection time from 10 to 3 seconds – this is based on research confirming delivery of adrenaline through the 3 second delivery time.
Removal of the massage step after the injection – this has been found to reduce the risk of irritation at the injection site.
EpiPen® and EpiPen® Jr adrenaline (epinephrine) autoinjectors with the 3 second label will start to enter pharmacies in Australia from today (13 June 2017) onwards.
EpiPen®s with a 10 second label can continue to be used and should not be replaced unless they have been used, are just about to expire or have expired.
All EpiPen®s should now be held in place for 3 seconds, regardless of the instructions on the label. However, if they are held for 10 seconds it will not affect the way that the adrenaline works.
ASCIA Action Plans for Anaphylaxis have been updated to reflect the above changes as have other ASCIA resources at www.allergy.org.au/anaphylaxis
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ST KILDA cyclists are ready for any emergency that comes their way thanks to a Leader Local Grant to provide first aid training to recreational riders.
St Kilda Cycling Club training officer Alison Raaymakers said the $1000 grant was “absolutely money well spent”, with eight members and ride leaders trained to offer first aid.
And members had already put their new skills to the test, springing into action when a rider tumbled off her bike and hit her head.
“It was good to know what to do in a situation like that,” Ms Raaymakers said.
“There are always little incidents when you’re out riding but thankfully I haven’t had to deal with any breaks yet.”
Ms Raaymakers said members had also stopped to help when they came across people in need while out riding.
“The more people with first aid skills, the better it is for the whole community,” she said.
The club has about 1000 members, with up to 20 taking part in rides held every day.
St Kilda Cycling Club was the winner of the Caulfield Glen Eira/Port Phillip Leader’s Leader Local Grants program last year.
The program is back for 2017, celebrating initiatives that help our communities by giving away thousands of dollars to projects across Melbourne.
We want to hear about inspirational ideas that just need some help to get going.
It might be a weed-control project for an environmental group, a defibrillator for a sporting club, solar panels for a men’s shed, or anything else that helps your organisation do what it does.
Readers will get to vote for their favourite idea and the projects with the most votes in each of the 26 communities we cover across Melbourne will receive a $1000 grant. Applications close July 14.
Leader Community News runs the program, with our partners Channel 9, Smooth FM, The Langham and Toyota Community Foundation.
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No one wants to imagine having to deal with emergencies. But you can be a lifesaver if you know what to do and are able to help.Emergencies need quick action, not panic. It sounds like a cliché, but remaining calm is the key to acting sensibly and with confidence. The person in need of help will need your assurance, and sensing your own anxiety and panic will only increase his/her distress.
Don’t wait for an emergency before you refer to these pages. Prepare yourself now by studying this information and, better still, attend a first aid course. The information given here is not meant to replace practical training that is given on a first-aid course. Contact Canberra First Aid training organisation for courses in your area. If you have taken a course previously, make sure your skills are up-to-date. Make sure that your childminder knows first aid. Again, don’t wait until it is too late.
Post emergency telephone numbers next to all phones in your home and office and save them on your cell phone. Important numbers to keep are of an emergency service, fire department, nearest hospital, the poison information centre and your GP. Know the shortest route to hospital.
Any family member with a serious medical condition, such as a heart condition, epilepsy, diabetes or a drug allergy, should wear a MedicAlert tag or carry a card. This will ensure that proper care can be given. MedicAlert identification can be obtained at your pharmacy or doctor. List any serious medical conditions family members may have and keep the list handy. Teach your children how to call emergency numbers, and tell them to show the list to emergency medical personnel.
Keep a well-stocked first aid kit at home and in your car.
There is a wide spectrum of conditions that can be considered emergencies. Many may turn out not to be as serious as initially suspected, but if in doubt, it is better to react promptly now, than have regrets later.
Dealing with accidents and injuries
Stay calm, sum up the situation quickly and act fast.
Before you act, adopt theSAFEapproach.Shout for assistance,Approach with care,Free the victim from dangers, andEvaluate the victim. Protect yourself and the injured person from danger or further injury. Look out for hazards such as oncoming traffic and fire. If you cannot reach the person without putting yourself in great danger, leave him or her and call the emergency services immediately. Remember that you will not be able to help anyone if you become a victim yourself.
Do not move the person unless there is imminent danger such as a fire. If the person must be moved, there should preferably be someone controlling the neck and head to keep them in alignment, and at least two other people on either side of the person to lift him without moving the spine.
Get help. Call out for someone to phone for emergency assistance.
Check for breathing.
Prioritise problems. Remember that the most obvious injury is not necessarily the most serious. Deal with the most life-threatening problems (such as blocked airway and excessive bleeding) first.
Check to see if the person is wearing a MedicAlert tag or other medical identification.
Loosen tight clothing and cover the person to keep him or her warm.
If there are no suspected back and neck injuries and breathing is normal, move the person into the recovery position.
In the case of serious injury or shock, don’t give anything to eat or drink.
When to call an ambulance
Calling for an ambulance is generally the fastest way to reach a hospital. A private car may be an alternative option, but only if the hospital is very close by.
In case of poisoning, contact the poison control centre immediately as emergency steps need to be taken before leaving for the hospital.
Call an ambulance if:
You don’t know what to do or are uncertain of the severity of the injury
Someone is unconscious or struggling to breathe
You suspect a back or neck injury
Someone may be having a heart attack
A person is seriously injured
A small child is injured, unless you have another adult with you who can drive
There is serious bleeding that you cannot stop
When you call an ambulance, state clearly:
The site of the emergency (include names of cross streets, if possible)
What happened to the victim and the victim’s condition
The number of the people injured
The age of the victim
Your name and contact telephone number
Any first aid currently being given
Do not hang up until the operator tells you to. This way you’ll be sure that you have given all the necessary information.
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Researchers from the University of Queensland have discovered a way to switch off immune reactions from allergies such as asthma.
The study, published in JCI Insight proposes that common allergies to peanuts and shellfish could be cured by the new treatment.
The method revolves around the erasure of cells that form memories resilient to treatment. The researchers, while experimenting with gene therapy successfully desensitised the immune system, providing a stable protection that will hypothetically last forever explained associate professor Ray Steptoe.
THE CHALLENGE IN ASTHMA AND ALLERGIES IS THAT THESE IMMUNE CELLS, KNOWN AS T-CELLS, DEVELOP A FORM OF IMMUNE ‘MEMORY’ AND BECOME VERY RESISTANT TO TREATMENTS. WE HAVE NOW BEEN ABLE ‘WIPE’ THE MEMORY OF THESE T-CELLS IN ANIMALS WITH GENE THERAPY, DESENSITISING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM SO THAT IT TOLERATES THE PROTEIN.
Dr Steptoe goes on to explain that the next stage of trialling, will replicate results “using human cells in the laboratory.”
This will be done by taking blood stem cells and inserting them with a gene that will regulate the allergen. This will then be put in the human recipient to target specific immune cells and in turn, eventually switching off the allergic response.
The final stage according to Dr Steptoe, is to have a singular injected gene therapy to replace treatments that are unreliable and short term.
WE HAVEN’T QUITE GOT IT TO THE POINT WHERE IT’S AS SIMPLE AS GETTING A FLU JAB, SO WE ARE WORKING ON MAKING IT SIMPLER AND SAFER SO IT COULD BE USED ACROSS A WIDE CROSS-SECTION OF AFFECTED INDIVIDUALS,
The new treatment will target long time asthma suffers and those with fatal food allergies. The trialling process is expected to last five more years before human trials begin. The “single-jab” cure is at least 10-15 years away.
Dr Peter Anderson, CEO of the Asthma Foundation of Queensland and New South Wales explains that for the two million Australians who suffer from severe asthma, this new treatment could be life changing:
THE FOUNDATION WELCOMES THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH AND LOOKS FORWARD TO A DAY IN THE FUTURE WHEN A SAFE ONE-OFF TREATMENT MAY BE AVAILABLE THAT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ELIMINATE ANY EXPERIENCE OF ASTHMA IN VULNERABLE PATIENTS.
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Burn units have started treating severe burns using fish skin.
Some centers are testing the technique because they don’t have access to enough of the bandages that are common in the United States.
As CBS2’s Dr. Max Gomez reports, it can happen in an instant — a fire or accident can lead to a major burn, like what happened to Brett Sigworth.
“I went into complete panic mode, just screamed. I mean, I’ve never experienced pain like that in my life,” he said.
Serious burns often end up in burn centers, like the University of California San Diego unit profiled in a Discovery channel documentary.
Severe burns are among the worst injuries a person can suffer. One of the first priorities is trying to cover the burned skin to prevent dehydration and infection.
“What you want to do is get the wound closed as quickly as possible. Then you wouldn’t have to make a new wound by harvesting skin from the patient from somewhere that isn’t burned,” Dr. Palmer Bessey, of New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, said.
The associate director of the largest burn center in the Northeast, says that usually means covering the burns with cadaver skin from a skin bank or with pig skin.
“If you clean the wound and you cover it with one of those materials, the skin would have as good a chance to regrow that part of it that was lost,” Bessey said.
But what if there isn’t enough donor or pig skin available for a burn center? Doctors in Brazil have come up with an ingenious solution, using something they have plenty of — fish skin, or more specifically, tilapia skin.
It seems that by carefully harvesting, processing and freezing skin from wild and farmed tilapia — a major food export in Brazil — doctors are able to use it as a dressing to cover burned skin, Gomez reports.
“If they can make the wound warm, keep it moist and have it relatively free from bacteria, they should have pretty good results,” Bessey said.
Doctors at the federal university in northern Brazil are testing the tilapia skin on their burn patients and say that, so far, it speeds up healing by several days and reduces the need for pain medication. Just like human or pig skin, it’s a temporary bandage, which the body eventually sloughs off or is removed by doctors.
Bessey told Gomez that doctors in Brazil are also using something else they apparently have plenty of to treat burns — frog skin.
Meanwhile, researchers in the U.S. and Australia are developing synthetic skin grown in the lab from stem cells, which may be the future, but right now is very expensive and slow to grow.
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A first aid course in Mental Health has now been successfully completed by some 90 people across the Archdiocese.
With an aim to identify and address the needs of those experiencing mental health issues across the Archdiocese, as well as their families and carers, the course is held over two Saturdays at the Emmanuel Centre in Perth. The next course dates are 26 August and 9 September. Applications are being accepted now.
Chaplain for the Catholic Ministry for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Fr Paul Pitzen said that with the course now its fourth year, a number of scholarships have also been accepted and well received, with some 20 people who are deaf and/or hard of hearing also having completed the course.
“The Mental Health First Aid course enables a participant to assist others who may be experiencing a mental health crisis or developing a mental health problem,” Fr Pitzen said.
“Participants learn the signs and symptoms of mental health issues, where and how to get help and what sort of help has been shown through research to be effective.
“The first aid is administered until appropriate professional treatment is received or until the crisis resolves,” he explained.
Fr Pitzen went on to say that in figures published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, almost 48 per cent of people with a severe or profound disability experience a mental health issue, compared to six per cent of people without a disability.
“It has therefore been imperative that we include people with a disability in this training as it means they are better equipped to help other deaf people in need,” he added.
Upon completion of the course, participants are then invited to be part of the Catholic Mental Health Network (CMHN) which meets once every six to eight weeks.
The aim of the CMHN is to have one or two people from every parish trained in Mental Health First Aid as part of this network.
The Mental Health First Aid course enables a person to assist others who may be experiencing a mental health crisis or developing a mental health problem. Participants learn the signs and symptoms of these mental health issues, where and how to get help and what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective. Photo Supplied.
Fr Pitzen explained that since completion of the first Mental Health First Aid course in 2013, members of the CMHN have been quietly but actively promoting mental health in their own parishes.
“For example, our members from the North Beach and Glendalough parishes organised mental health talks in June and August of last year titled ‘Coping with Change,’ which covers how change can affect individuals and how individuals can learn to reduce personal stress and develop a plan to support themselves through times of change,” Fr Pitzen said.
“Another member from Baldivis recently organised a mental health stall at their parish expo, and some others provide willing ears over a cup of morning tea after Mass to anyone who might need them.”
Fr Pitzen also noted that participants of the course also come away with skills and knowledge to use in their own lives too.
“Many reported having used the skills within their own family, relatives and at work. One of our members, Sebastian told us about the time when his relative had a surgery complication and had to stay in ICU for many weeks.
“Using the skills from Mental Health First Aid training, Sebastian was able to talk with her and ask how she had been coping. Sebastian admitted he wouldn’t have done that in the past as he wouldn’t have known what to say. Another member, Louise said how the Mental Health First Aid skills have been useful in her work with teenagers at a high school. She said the course has allowed her to understand these young adults better and help them where necessary,” he concluded.
For more information about the Catholic Mental Health Network, contact the Emmanuel Centre on 9328 8113 or[email protected]. Or visitwww.mhfa.com.au.
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“Common things occur commonly” and so the first aider or emergency care provider would expect emergencies related to common conditions prevalent in the local community and therefore the workplace.
The common emergencies in South Africa would be related to:
Heart disease (heart attack)
Asthma
Diabetes
Epilepsy
Trauma (injury)
Communication
Every workplace should have a central point (operations centre in a big factory, switchboard in a small office) through which emergency action is co-ordinated.
In an emergency workers should have an internal emergency number to call through which they reach an operator who would respond first aiders, summon the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and send someone out to meet the ambulance.
The operator would have clearly displayed at their station the emergency number for EMS. (e.g. 10177 is currently the National Medical Emergency Number, very soon 112 dialed on Telkom and cellular phones will replace all the emergency numbers)
Internal response
Every office, factory, mall, shop etc. should have an Emergency Medical Response Team with training in first aid (including the use of Automatic External Defibrillation) and basic first aid equipment with which to respond.
Communication from the “shop floor” with the control point is essential (radio or cell phone).
Heart attack
The symptoms of a heart attack include:
Severe central “crushing” chest pain
Pain radiating into the neck or arms
Sweating
Shortness of breath
Nausea and vomiting
The management is to rest the patient i.e. don”t let them walk anywhere; provide oxygen via mask if you have and offer them half a Disprin to drink voluntarily. Get the patient to the nearest hospital or hospital with a heart unit by ambulance (ambulances have all the right equipment to treat patients) as soon as possible.
If the patient collapses unconscious, their heart may have stopped and the emergency care providers will have to do Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and then provide defibrillation.
Asthma
Asthma is a very common respiratory disease which causes the lung air passages to narrow due to inflammation, swelling, mucous production and spasm of the muscle in the walls of the air passages.
The patient will be short of breath and may exhibit wheezing (high-pitched sound on expiration). In severe asthma they may not be able to talk, will have a very fast pulse and may be confused. The asthma patient will want to sit up to facilitate breathing.
Provide oxygen if you can. If they have an asthma pump they can attempt use but don”t delay getting them to hospital if the symptoms are severe. Transport the patient to the nearest Emergency Centre in a sitting position or call an ambulance.
Diabetes
Diabetics rely on injected insulin or tablets to keep their blood sugar at normal levels.
Occasionally they can inject too much insulin or because they don”t eat at the right time the tablets or insulin lower the blood sugar too much, causing loss of consciousness.
The patient may complain of sweating, anxiety and heart palpitations before lapsing into unconsciousness. If they are diabetic they will usually know they are going “hypo” and will take some food.
If they are unconscious the first aider can smear glucose gel onto the gums and must get them to an Emergency Centre as soon as possible. Low blood glucose is life threatening.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a very common condition (usually because the patient hasn”t taken their medication) in which the patient may experience a loss of consciousness with initial whole body spasm followed by rhythmic contraction of all the body muscles. The patient will usually have a loss of bladder control.
Management of a patient having a seizure is to turn them on their side and protect the head from injury. Allowing the patient to seize on their back may cause a severe head injury.
Allow the seizure to pass and then monitor the patient on their side while you wait for an ambulance.
Trauma
The common consequence of trauma and injury is bleeding and fractures.
External bleeding is obvious and is best stopped by continuous external pressure with a wound dressing and or towel and elevation of the affected limb.
Blunt trauma to the chest or abdomen can cause internal bleeding which for the first aider may be difficult to detect.
Uncontrolled bleeding may lead to “shock” (insufficient blood and oxygen supply to the brain and major organs) and so the control of bleeding is very important.
Fractures are usually evident by the swelling over a bone at the site of injury, reluctance by the patient to move the bone, deformity, pain and grinding of the two ends of the bone on movement.
Fractures should be immobilized (splinted) in a position most comfortable for the patient, making sure that the circulation downstream from the injury is intact (pulse, good colour, capillary refill < 2 seconds). The best splints are wire splints covered by padding. The joint above and below the injury should be immobilised.
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Emergency services are often spread thin, especially when storms and major disasters strike. When travelling on the road, having a well-stocked first aid kit could be a lifesaver.
We spend a lot of time on the road – on our way to and from work, visiting friends, shopping, or going on holiday. But often there are times when drivers are on the road in unfavourable conditions and accidents happen when you least expect them, so it’s always good to be prepared and have a first aid kit in your car.
Why is it important to keep a first aid kit in the car?
Drivers should always do their best to be prepared for a medical emergency along the road, says Russel Meiring, Communications Officer for ER24. “Even if you are not medically qualified, you may be able to assist an injured person with afirst aidkit.
This first aid kit will serve as a basic resource and means of assistance until further medical help arrives, says Meiring. This kit will also help you treat minor injuries that do not require trained medical assistance, such as minor cuts.
What should be done in emergency situations?
“One of the first things to do, in any emergency situation, is to make sure your safety is not put in jeopardy,” says Meiring. “The next step is to call emergency services. Once all the details of the incident have been given, you should then begin to assess the situation.
“If, for instance, the patient has a nosebleed from a minor trauma to the face, the first step would be to make sure that there are no fractures or open wounds to the face or facial bones.”
The patient should sit up straight with the head bent slightly forward – tilting the head back will cause the blood to run down the back of the throat.
“Be sure to wear gloves when you are dealing with bleeding of any sort”, adds Meiring, “and use your thumb and forefinger to pinch the soft part of the nose shut.”
In more severe cases
If the bleeding continues for more than 10 minutes, call emergency services as it could be a more serious head trauma.
In more severe cases, such as a neck trauma, it could leave the patient with serious injuries if not treated correctly (or left untreated).
If someone has sustained an injury to the neck, emergency services should be contacted immediately. Prevent the patient from moving as movement could cause further damage or injury.
“In major emergency situations, always try to keep the patient calm while waiting for help to arrive,” says Meiring.
“But if there are any patients on the scene, you can now offer your help – using your first aid kit – to those who need it.”
What should your first aid kit consist of?
Packs of sterile gauze
Adhesive, hypoallergenic tape
Adhesive bandages in several sizes
Triangular elastic bandages
Crepe roller bandages, one large and one small
Large and small sterile dressings
Sterile eye dressings
Eye pads with bandages
Pack of sterile cotton wool swabs
Assorted plasters
Antiseptic wipes
Antibiotic cream
Rehydration sachets
Any extra prescription medication (if you are going away on holiday)
Tweezers
Sharp scissors
Safety pins
Face cloth
Thermometer
Gloves
Torch and spare batteries
List of emergency contact numbers, e.g. ambulance, family doctor, paediatrician etc.
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EXCLUSIVE: Three-year-olds in childcare and students from preschool and kindergarten upwards will be taught about suicide awareness and mental health as part of a $53 million Mental Health in Education program to be announced by the Turnbull government today (Thursday).
More streamlined “postvention” strategies, with crisis teams deployed to schools when a suicide occurs, will also be put in place to prevent contagion suicides as childhood mental health issues soar.
While the word “suicide” won’t be used directly with three-year-olds, discussions around feelings of “not wanting to be here” or “wanting to die” could be addressed in the right context.
Specific “suicide” discussion could occur with kids as young as eight, according to experts. Health Minister Greg Hunt will today announce teachers from childcare educators right through to Year 12 will be provided additional mental health and suicide training in their university degrees or VET education.
Those already teaching will undergo additional online and face-to-face training to better improve the discussion with children around the issue.
The program will be run by Beyond Blue in partnership with Early Childhood Australia and Headspace.
It will begin early next year with two-thirds of all schools to be involved — 2000 Early Learning Services and 6000 schools — by June 2019.
Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman said teachers would then employ a range of strategies to teach young people about mental health and suicide.
This could include lesson plans or general discussions around anxiety and emotions.
She said the discussion with three-year-olds would occur in a different capacity to those with teenagers.
But suicide awareness in the very youngest of students would not be off the table if appropriate.
“We will frame that early childhood educator support and training in a very different way to the support for primary school and secondary school,” Ms Harman said.
“The conversation with a three or four or five-year-old is not going to happen in the same way that it will happen with a 17-year-old.”
Early Childhood Australia CEO Sam Page said helping to develop resilient children who were aware of their emotions and mental health could have a real impact in preventing them from being at risk of suicide later on in life.
“If we teach all children how to name their emotions, how to feel sad and how to recover from that … then we are more likely to have reduced instances of depression and that in turn will reduce the number of children trying to suicide,” Ms Page said.
Last year youth suicide reached a 10-year high, with eight children and teens committing suicide every week in Australia — a 32 per cent increase on 2006.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics between 2011 and 2015 a total of 89 children aged 5 to 14 years committed suicide.
Former Australian of The Year and Headspace founder Patrick McGorry said it was appropriate to discuss mental health with kids from the beginning of their learning.
“We know 7 per cent of all primary school children have mental health issues,” Professor McGorry who now works as the Executive Director of Orygen Youth Health said.
However, he said using the term suicide shouldn’t come until late primary school.
“We first really see suicidal thinking in late primary school around the age of eight or 10,” Professor McGorry said.
“The focus for suicide prevention should be in late primary school.”
Louise Davis, clinical practice manager at Kids Helpline, said the service had received calls from kids as young as eight contemplating suicide.
She said there were age groups that were “too young” to discuss suicide with, but that the concept of sharing your feelings and being open about seeing help needed to be encouraged early.
“We don’t want to scare young children, but certainly we want the message for them to be that if they are feeling anything — whether it is not wanting to be here or sadness that they can discuss that.”
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said mental health issues impacted even the youngest among us.
“People of all ages can be affected by mental health — either directly themselves or because someone close to them might be suffering. It can impact even our youngest Australians,” Mr Hunt told News Corp Australia.
“It’s important schools have the resources and training to deal with mental health issues, so they can support individuals impacted and also the broader community.
“This might include training teachers on how to support a student going through a difficult time, or what to say to a student who has lost a parent.”
In a further boost to improving mental health in children Mr Hunt will also today announce an additional $19 million to assist GPs, nurses and other health professionals who work with children to better identify, support and refer children at risk of mental health difficulties.
Mr Hunt will make both announcements alongside Beyond Blue patron and former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett in Melbourne.
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AUSTRALIA, it’s time to get real about who we’re becoming.
A new report from Ambulance Tasmania today has revealed some truly stunning details about the gross misuse of the service, proving a lot of us are becoming lazy, hypochondriacs and huge over-reactors.
The review, which was released in an effort to fix Tasmania’s rank as the state with the slowest emergency response time in the country, reveals the population are using the service for things most would see as the furthest thing from an emergency.
And while the review might’ve left a lot of Tasmanians out to dry, they definitely aren’t the only ones.
‘TRIVIAL CALLOUTS’
The review revealed Tasmanians, just like the rest of Australia, are inundating the emergency services with ridiculous calls.
Tasmania’s Health Minister Michael Ferguson highlighted some of the worst in a budget estimates hearing today, reports the ABC.
“We had a person call 000 because their dog was sick, and they wanted an ambulance to come and assess it,” Mr Ferguson said.
“One patient on Bruny Island realised they’d run out of medication on Christmas Eve, and the patient requested from the island that ambulance paramedics visit the pharmacy and collect their medications and put the ambulance on the ferry to deliver them.
“A person in Scottsdale called 000 wanting an ambulance because they had a blocked nose and a headache due to a cold.”
The publication also reported Ambulance Tasmania attended to someone “suffering a toothache”, another person who “had an itchy eye”, a Hobart man who thought he’d broken his ankle but had been walking on it for two days and only had a small bruise and even a person who “had stubbed their toe and wanted an ambulance so they could go to hospital for an X-Ray”.
In a statement to news.com.au, Chief Executive for Ambulance Tasmania Neil Kirby revealed almost one in five people who receive ambulance care don’t even need to go to hospital.
“One person called 000 due to a cut finger and they described it as bleeding uncontrollably. When paramedics arrived the only treatement required was for a Band-Aid to be applied,” he said.
But they definitely aren’t the only ones with plenty more stories revealing the rest of Australia is guilty of similar unnecessary calls.
TASMANIA’S STRUGGLE
Tasmania was dubbed the slowest responding state in Australia last year after it was revealed you’ll wait on average 26 minutes for an ambulance to come to you after calling 000.
But, when you take into account the fact that the demand for ambulances is 14 times greater than the state’s population growth, it’s easy to understand why.
In the 2015/16 financial year, Tasmanian ambulances were called out to 90,000 separate incidents — that’s 247 incidents a day split among 53 separate stations and 300 fulltime workers.
If you think that sounds like a lot, then you’re absolutely right.
The small island state is home to 515,000 people which means close to one in five people were visited by an ambulance.
And clearly, not all of them are calling for life
BUT WHY CAN’T THEY JUST FILTER THE CALLS?
Most people who aren’t directly involved with the emergency services often wonder why those receiving the emergency calls aren’t sorting these “trivial call-outs” themselves.
If someone calls them saying they have a cut on their finger, why can’t they tell them to put a Band-Aid on?
If someone rings asking about the health of their pet, can’t they refer them to a local vet instead?
But, it isn’t always that simple news.com.au has learned.
“At the end of the day you never know. Some people rant when they’re panicked and don’t think clearly or struggle to articulate what they’re saying,” an emergency services professional said.
And that’s often the case with most of the non-life threatening call outs with the emergency services only realising the ridiculous nature of the call by the time they get there.
SEVERE PENALTIES
Penalties for calling 000 when there isn’t actually an emergency can be quite severe with some states even offering up three years in prison if you do.
Despite that threat, it seems like people really aren’t heeding the penalties with calls to the emergency services only increasing each year.
The only small victory — if these people do force paramedics to come all that way out for things as trivial as an itchy eye or an ingrown toenail, they’ll still be bumped right down to the bottom of the hospital queue when they arrive in their siren-blaring chariot.
