From
the Chair
Sally Webb - Chair, Bay of Plenty District Health Board
All of us across the Bay of Plenty are well
aware of the devastating effect cyclones have
had on our region the past few weeks.
It has been shocking to watch the news and
see the devastation of people’s lives, their
homes destroyed and precious possessions
lost. I was at the public meeting in
Whakatāne after the Edgecumbe flood and to
hear what people have lost was heartbreaking.
The only positive aspect was that no lives
were lost, and the community worked together
to ensure everyone got out alive, a great effort
by so many willing volunteers and local
families.
The Civil Defence and other agencies together
with local communities have rallied to provide
emergency assistance however those who
have lost so much will need ongoing support,
and for some they will have nothing to
retrieve when they get back into their houses.
So I am asking everyone to think seriously
contributing to the ‘Givealittle’ Mayoral
Flood Appeal at www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/
ebopmayoralfund
If you haven’t done so already, I can’t
emphasize enough the importance of being
prepared with an emergency kit and plan
when a disaster strikes without warning.
Aside from survival items, it’s also important
to take some sort of personal identification
such as your driver’s license with you. Copies
of bank account numbers, lists of medications
and some cash are items that should also be
included but easy to forget.
For more advice about preparing for a disaster
including a step by step guide see www.
getthru.govt.nz
For information about protecting the health of
you and your family and whānau during and
after a flood event see www.ttophs.govt.nz/
flooding
Take care of yourselves and your loved ones.
He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!
Arohanui
Sally Webb
A trauma team is tested in a mock emergency at Tauranga Hospital. Left to right: Dr Tara Linton, ED
nurse Miranda Bisset, Dr Kathryn Duffy, Dr Margaret He, “Patient” Dr Tom Brown, Ed nurse John
Wylie, Dr Teriana Maheno and Nurse Educator Sandie McAdams.
Mock trauma tests team
It’s four o’clock in the morning. The
Ambulance service has radioed in.
Paramedics have a drunken man in his
twenties on board. It’s a motor vehicle verses
power pole crash. The patient was stable at
the scene, but is fast deteriorating.
That’s the information a team of junior doctors
at Tauranga Hospital were faced with recently,
taking part in a mock exercise to test how
they’d respond and perform in a real life
trauma.
Clinical Director of Emergency Medicine,
BOPDHB Derek Sage says, “Simulation ‘in-
situ’ training is crucial to improving the safety
and quality of our patient care. You wouldn’t
expect the All Blacks to be the best rugby team
in the world without training and practicing
their team moves. The same applies to our
trauma teams only the stakes are much higher.”
Trauma team training takes place in one
of the resuscitation bays in the Emergency
Department (ED). With the aid of some clever
make-up and 2.5 litres of fake blood, the
patient, (Dr Tom Brown) is made to look like
he has head and chest injuries.
ED Senior Medical Officer Dr Paul Blakemore
who manages the exercise says “It’s a typical
severe trauma. We try to make the scenario as
realistic as possible, to make sure we’re putting
those involved in a pressured environment
just as they would be in real life. Staging the
scenario in ED, using a real person and make-
up adds to the level of intensity.”
It’s the ED senior registrar’s responsibility
to pull a trauma team together and delegate
roles. The call’s made, and within minutes a
multidisciplinary team of Resident Medical
Officers (RMOs) from surgery, orthopaedics
and anaesthetics, together with nursing staff
and radiographers are called into ED.
Just as would be the case in a real trauma, the
patient’s vitals are changing, forcing the trauma
team to adapt on the spot.
“The monitor screen showing the patient’s
vital signs is actually an I-pad controlled by a
nurse educator who’s in the room changing the
patient’s vitals throughout the exercise.
“Systems are tested too. The fake blood is in
realistic packaging and has to be hooked up
correctly and warmed just as it is done in real
life”, says Dr Blakemore.
The simulation training is modelled on Crew
Resource Management developed by the
aviation industry in the late 1970s to reduce
pilot error.
The scenario is over in 45 minutes when
the surgical RMO consults with the on call
consultant surgeon and the patient is urgently
moved to theatre.
Dr Sage, who also chairs the BOPDHB
Simulation Advisory Group, says the logistics
of staging the trauma training in ED can be
tricky. “There is a lot of preparation involved,
and there’s always a high chance the exercise
will be cancelled at the last minute due to a real
emergency.”
“We’re fortunate to have senior staff highly
experienced in medical and simulation training.
It’s recognised worldwide as a core part of
professional training in healthcare.”
Dr Sage says ED clinicians are developing
further simulation ‘in-situ’ scenarios which will
involve clinical teams across both Tauranga
and Whakatāne hospitals.
ACT QUICKLY IF YOU SEE RISING WATER
Floods and flash
floods can happen
quickly.
If you see rising river
water do not wait for
official warnings. Head
for higher ground
and stay away from
floodwater.
Make a plan at www.getthru.govt.nz