Emergency Nurses and Disasters

Researchers: Karen Hammad, Paul Arbon, Kristine Gebbie, Alison Hutton

Nurses working in the emergency department play an important role in the healthcare response to disaster, yet very little is known about their experience. I am conducting a study about emergency nurses and disaster response. I would like to interview nurses who have worked in the emergency department during a response to an external disaster event about their experiences and understanding of disaster response. You will be asked to be involved in two interviews of approximately 60 minutes duration conducted via Skype.

If you would like to know more about this study or you would like to participate please don’t hesitate to contact me disaster.study@flinders.edu.au

What are the research needs for the field of disaster nursing in the next five years? An international Delphi study

Researchers: Jamie Ranse, Allison Hutton

In the last two decades, the amount of literature pertaining to nurses in disasters has increased. However, whilst research and evaluation of disaster research involving nursing is increasing, it is beneficial to have a mutually agree list of research topics that would be of assistance to the larger nursing population in enhancing the theoretical understanding of disaster nursing.

This research aims to determine international research priorities for disaster nursing, over the next 5 years. 

This research consists of three rounds:
Round 1: This round will be conducted in a workshop with the researchers and nursing participants of the World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine, May 2013. The aim of this round is to generate themes and statements relating to possible research questions.
Round 2: The themes and statements generated in round 1 will be complied and developed as an online survey tool for ranking.
Round 3: Those themes and statements from round 2 that reached a consensus will be complied and developed as an online survey tool for further ranking.

On the completion of the third round, a list of research priorities will be developed with an international consensus. It is anticipated that these results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at an international conference.

Understanding and Identifying potential risks for young people at outdoor music fesitvals

Researchers: Alison Hutton, Jamie Ranse, Paul Arbon.

The aim of this research was to understand the nature of patient presentations at music festivals around Australia. This study used a minimum data set developed by Ranse and Hutton (2012) which used four main categories of presentation type.

These being illness, injury, environmental factors and mental health. Outdoor music festivals are unique events (Gleder and Robinson, 2009), and in the mass gathering literature are espoused to have a higher incident of patient presentations than other types of mass gathering (Milsten et al, 2003). Often single events are written up, which makes it difficult to generalize to other events, therefore the aim of this research is to discuss characteristics of patient presentations of 25 outdoor music festivals across four Australian states.

The project found that more than two thirds of those who present are women. In addition males were more likely to present with injuries and women were more likely to present with illness related symptons. The environmental data includes the ingestion of drugs and alcohol. This data set showed that patients that presented to onsite care with drug and alcohol related issues had the higher rate of being transferred to hospital.

The role of on-site care in hospital avoidance at mass gathering events

Researchers: Alison Hutton, Brett Aimers, Jamie Ranse, Paul Arbon.

It is generally accepted that mass gathering events have a heightened potential to produce a higher incidence of illness, injury and therefore a subsequent increase in demand for ambulance and hospital resources. The balance between planning for mass gathering health care and maintaining adequate community resources is an emerging issue for health agencies today (Gutman, Lund & Turris, 2007).

Currently, the body of literature that examines the provision of health care at mass gatherings is under developed and may not accurately reflect the impact of on site health agencies on ‘hospital avoidance ’. St John Ambulance Australia is well positioned to contribute to this subject by exploring its role in hospital avoidance when deployed to mass gatherings.

Therefore this project aims to identify the number of patients that would have ordinarily required hospital care who were provided with end-to-end care and discharged by St John Ambulance Australia. Secondly to determine the injuries and illnesses that would ordinarily require ambulance transport from a mass gathering to hospital.

Staying safe and healthy at schoolies

Researcher: Alison Hutton

Schoolies festivals are events that give young people the opportunity to celebrate the end of their school life. These festivals provide a ‘safe zone’ in designated alcohol‐ free areas for dance and live music. Festivals such as the Adelaide Schoolies Festival are a common phenomenon in today’s society and provide the opportunity to investigate the health protective behaviors of young people who attend mass gatherings. This pilot study provides baseline data about young people’s health safety concerns and improves the preparedness of health professionals at ass gatherings.

Safe partying seminars evaluation

Researcher: Alison Hutton

This project will evaluate the seminars that have been provided for the secondary school students in South Australia. This seminar has been provided by the NGO organization before the schoolies season to encourage students to learn how to stay safe and healthy at the schoolies event. The students are asked to fill out the evaluation form. The result of this evaluation will be utilized to improve the seminar and will also inform young people’s understanding of safe drinking.

Celebration without hospitalization

Researcher: Alison Hutton

Schoolies Festivals are events that give young people the opportunity to celebrate the end of their school life. In Adelaide, young people celebrate Schoolies in a dry zone, however prior to entering this dry zone a substantial amount of alcohol is ingested in caravan parks, surrounding hotels and residences. Data from the 2009 St John Ambulance Australia presentations identified that 14% of young people presented to on–site care last year with an alcohol related condition and/or injury. Of that fourteen percent (14%), fifty percent (50%) of these young people were subsequently transferred and admitted to hospital. The aim of this research is to identify and explore, through the retrospective accounts of 60‐80 young people, the ways that young people prepare to minimize and/or be free from alcohol‐related harm at Schoolies. The knowledge generated will be used to make recommendations about the development of health information strategies that aim to reduce the number of young people requiring hospitalisation due to alcohol related injury at Schoolies.