Community paramedic trial rethinks role within regional healthcare

Community paramedic trial rethinks role within regional healthcare

This innovative and brilliant initiative to deploy community paramedics in the regional areas can be a boon to address the basic health problem of people located in the regional areas of Australia.

A community paramedic trial is underway to provide preventative health measures as well as deal with immediate problems of patients in regional areas. According to the ABC report published 22 Sep 2021, paramedics in two regional Victorian towns, Ouyen in the state’s north-west and Tallangatta in the north-east, will be trained to do primary health care including vaccinations, chronic health management and palliative care.

Paramedic and researcher Brendan Shannon said the program had the potential to improve regional healthcare.

According to Mr. Shannon from Monash University’s Department of Paramedicine, “This is truly a way to start to provide patient-centred care in areas where we just don’t have access to GPs, access to nurses.”

Australasian College of Paramedicine chairman Ryan Lovett says paramedics are an untapped resource and we totally agree with this. This not only has a huge potential to fill the primary health care gap in Australia but also increase the job prospects for health care workers in the Ambulance and Paramedic sector!

Jo Brookes, one of the participating paramedics’ members in the trial says paramedics can play an important role in regional and rural communities.  “My role as a community paramedic is working here at the healthcare service. It might be in the urgent care room supporting the staff, might be in the medical centre, or in the aged care or residential areas, but also out in the community,” she said.

To find out more about it, you can check the information published by ABC on the following page here.