In recent times, Australia has experienced both natural and health disasters, in the form of bushfires, floods, droughts and the COVID-19 epidemic. Accidents and emergencies are also relatively common in rural areas.
People in rural and remote Australia experience significantly higher rates of injuries and deaths resulting from emergencies and disasters, including transport and other accidents (occupational and recreational), envenomation, and climate-related adverse weather events.
The increasing occurrence of natural disasters together with the COVID pandemic, has highlighted the importance of utilising the community knowledge, expertise and skill of rural and remote medical practitioners in disaster and emergency response and building and supporting community resilience.
Rural and remote doctors and their teams are critical players in emergency and disaster response efforts. As frontline responders they provide immediate care for their own patients and others. They are also the main providers of ongoing care following such events, including mental health services and support, and can lead or support community response and resilience initiatives.
With their connections into community, they can offer unique local insights during and in the aftermath of emergencies and disasters. They can also contribute their expertise into the operation of the health system more broadly, particularly in relation to how rural general practices and facilities can operate and integrate with secondary and tertiary care. Their skills and insights are particularly valuable, noting that support from metropolitan and regionally based emergency and retrieval services may be significantly delayed or compromised due to distance, weather, demand, or other factors.
Please contact policy@acrrm.org.au at any time if you would like to provide feedback on a particular issue or consultation.