QEMS
The Queensland Emergency Medical System, or QEMS, involves the integration and co-ordination of service providers in order to deliver an optimum level of emergency patient care. The implementation and co-ordination occurs at a local level, which means that representatives that work in the health care or emergency fields in the local area are involved in the management of the local Emergency Medical System. This means that the system we use locally is relevant to the local community and its likely problems.
The goals of QEMS are:
- Improve community preparedness for recognition and response to sudden illness and injury;
- Improve pre-hospital services to provide a high standard of care integrated with other emergency medical services;
- Further develop hospital based emergency medical services;
- Improve aero-health services and ensure coordination and integration with other emergency medical services; and
- Improve preparedness for emergency health service response to, and recovery from, multi-casualty incidents and disasters.
The Northern Region of the QAS plays a significant role in the local QEMS planning, with representatives attending regular QEMS meetings to review and further develop the emergency medical service provision throughout the region. The Northern Region has some unique factors that make this planning and co-ordination critical for this region. We are the largest region in the state, and have the longest response distances in the state. We also have several island communities served by our officers. These factors increase the likelihood of the use of aerial transport for rescue, retrieval and treatment of ill or injured patients.
The Northern Region is also subject to extreme weather condition such as cyclones, floods and other severe tropical storms. In such a situation all services and providers within the QEMS system operate together to ensure maximum possible care and assistance for the people of the community. Because the system is also state wide, resources can be sought from other regions. Recent example was Cyclone Tessi (April 2000), during which QAS resources operated before, during and after the cyclone to ensure community had access to resources. In the event that local infrastructure is disabled, a backup system operates to provide service from other locations.
The system also operates for multi-casualty incidents such as motor vehicle accidents and incidents involving aircraft. For example the Home Hill bus crash in August 2000 involved QAS crews attending from several stations, the Queensland Rescue Helicopter, Royal Flying Doctor Aircraft and medical staff from several hospitals.
The Northern Region also provides response to other regions in the event of resources being required. When a rescue helicopter crashed near Rockhampton in July 2000, killing the child patient, his mother, pilot and two paramedics, staff from other regions (including Northern Region) including paramedics and communications staff, were sent in to relieve the staff of that region.
Through this integrated approach to health care, the response time, care and transport of the patient to health facilities is maximised to benefit patient overall patient wellbeing and outcome.
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