ARARAT - Ararat Ambulance Service is set to benefit from a state of the art teaching aid which will prepare graduate paramedics for real-life situations.
The Ararat Ambulance Auxiliary has presented the Ararat branch with an Advanced Life Saving (ALS) mannequin, valued at $13,000.
The ALS dummy allows trainers to program a number of scenarios into the mannequin, such as high blood pressure, asthma and breathing obstructions to give students the opportunity to practise dealing with situations they may face on the job.
Ararat Ambulance station manager Ambrose Cashin said Ararat is one of the few branches equipped with the cutting-edge teaching aid, and thanked the auxiliary for its generous and continued support.
Auxiliary chairperson, Mayor Gwenda Allgood, said the auxiliary works hard to provide the service with state of the art equipment.
''We feel it is important to give students the best opportunity to learn so they can treat those in the community to the best of their abilities. We're very proud of the fact that we can do that,'' she said.
''Even though we don't have a lot of fundraising activities, we're lucky in that we get a lot of donations from the community. It's good to be able to show people where the money is going.
''We've had a really positive response from those who need the equipment and the auxiliary is very conscious of the needs of the community.
''We're very proud that we're able to assist our paramedics to be able to be trained to the best possible standard.''
Cr Allgood said the auxiliary is also a big supporter of the current 12-month trial that has seen the number of paramedics stationed in Ararat jump from two to six since June, 2009.
The auxiliary wrote to Member for Ripon Joe Helper and the Minister for Health Daniel Andrews to support the service's application for more manpower in Ararat.
''There was a real need for extra staff in the community,'' Cr Allgood said.
Graduate paramedics Susie Fairweather and Andrew McKay moved to Ararat in June, and have since become fully qualified ALS paramedics.
Mr Cashin said Ararat is a great training ground for graduates as it experiences a high level of emergency situations and offers exposure to a wide variety of medical and trauma patients.
''We've also been very lucky to have Russ Reid, an ALS paramedic and clinical instructor up from Ballarat for the duration of the trial,'' he said.
''Having him here has been great. It is an asset to the branch and the community to have someone that experienced on board. It's been great for the students to draw on his vast knowledge and experience. We'd love to be able to keep him on because he is a very valuable member of the team.''
Mr Cashin said the more experienced ALS paramedics also benefited from the teaching process.
''It's good to have `new blood' like Andrew and Susie and it keeps the rest of us on our toes - we have to look things up and they come to us with their new ideas and practices.''
Ms Fairweather is enjoying her time in Ararat and said she has learnt a lot in her nine months in the region.
''Working in a rural area has been great because it forces you to think everything through clinically at a scene,'' she said.
''In metropolitan areas you have the advantage of MICA (Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance) back up but not here. In the country you learn a lot, practise your skills more and you also need less back up.''
The trial will undergo an evaluation in the next few months to determine whether the extra paramedics will remain as a permanent fixture.
Since its inception, Ararat has benefited from two crews of paramedics rostered on during business hours, with the possibility of a third crew on call, resulting in improved service delivery and shorter response times.
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter