Life-saving remote community education program

CareFlight has relaunched its community education programs with West Arnhem Regional Council staff in Gunbalanya and Injalak Arts staff attending a recent session.
This is with smaller groups to meet COVID-19 guidelines. 
The community education programs provide lifesaving skills for people living in remote areas, including identifying and treating catastrophic bleeds and maintaining an airway. 
The course delivery was postponed earlier this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s now being rolled out in a reduced capacity. 
“We adapted the course to ensure we can continue to provide this invaluable education while maintaining a safe environment for communities to learn in,” CareFlight Flight Nurse Victoria Higgins said. 
“In remote parts of the Northern Territory it’s not unusual for community members to be the first person to arrive at the scene of a trauma, so it’s important everyone has the skills, knowledge and confidence to provide treatment that can save lives,” she explained. 
“We ran our first two courses late last month in Gunbalanya, training 14 people in total over two days, including West Arnhem Regional Council workers, staff from the Injalak Arts Centre and other community members.” 
CareFlight began delivering its community education courses in 2011, and has now trained thousands of people. 
The emergency trauma training recreates high-pressure trauma scenarios and CareFlight’s specialist doctors and flight nurses take participants through the steps they need to take to save lives and improve health outcomes. 
Andrew Garbe from the West Arnhem Regional Council said the course has given him the confidence to save lives. 
“The training was one of the best courses I have ever done. It was well delivered in practical easy to understand terms. The facilitator was extremely knowledgeable, and I now feel that I have the confidence and skills to save lives. I highly recommend the training and think everyone in remote locations need to learn these skills,” Andrew Garbe explained. 
The courses are provided free-of-charge for participants and have been supported by TIO and Territory Generation. 
CareFlight is running this course in various locations throughout the next few months, training almost 100 Territorians. 
CareFlight is hoping the courses will resume in their full capacity next year.