'I’m sitting in my lounge in Moe, postcode 3825. I have come inside after replanting most of the salad seedlings in my small vegie patch that didn’t survive the 43C we had recently.
It’s damp and coolish here – in marked contrast to what so much of the east and north east have experienced.
I’m having a couple of days respite, having worked 6 days in the Traralgon RCC/ICC wearing a couple of regional health command and coordination hats.
Anyone who has worked on incident response or recovery knows how dynamic the environment and atmosphere can be – and my week in the RCC/ICC has been just that – at times predictable and other times predictably unpredictable.
That’s the nature of working in contemporaneous response and recovery environments.
Having spent 18 months working on the aftermath of the 2009 Black Saturday disaster, I’ve observed and absorbed the highs and lows that come with such disasters – and which, in times of great personal and broader community distress, will often deliver a story that illustrate how disparate people, working with a common purpose, can achieve a win.
Successful collaboration
One of the tasks that landed on my plate recently was a request to work with the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA), to see if we could get pharmaceutical supplies into the community pharmacy in Orbost, which at that time was isolated by road closures, having been surrounded by fire and the township being enveloped in smoke.
At the same time, I was tasked with getting pharmaceutical supplies from Bairnsdale Hospital pharmacy to Orbost Hospital, to replenish their depleted stocks.
I contacted the Director at PGA, and over the next three days, we collaborated together and with other colleagues in both the private pharmaceutical sector and in our Bairnsdale ICC and kicked a series of goals.
The Director’s sometimes dodgy phone (not surprising given he was often out in the paddock at Blackwarry in the Strzelecki Ranges, preparing fire protection watering systems) was an added ingredient.
What began on Wednesday as an effort to get essential prescription medicines and other pharmaceutical supplies into Orbost, ended up being much more.
When I contacted the Orbost Pharmacy’s wholesale supplier Sigma Healthcare, to coordinate transport from their Rowville depot to Bairnsdale, their manager mentioned she was trying to get a medication order through to the Merimbula pharmacy in NSW, and asked me if I had any sources that could assist.
In less than 24 hours, that turned into working out how to get medicines to two pharmacies across the border and into Eden as well.
At the same time, I was asked to facilitate the transport of medication to our Bush Nursing Centre at Cann River, which like Orbost, was engulfed in smoke and isolated on all sides. Next came a request to source Ventolin and P2 masks for the Mallacoota pharmacy – and sea sickness tablets and P2 masks for Mallacoota evacuees traveling by naval vessel – and Ventolin and prescription medication for a community member in Club Terrace, again isolated by road closures.
In less than an hour, my PGA colleague was able to source the sea sickness medication through his pharmacy network and have them ready for transport. The Pharmacy Guild was outstanding in their ability to respond to requests and to provide solutions to sourcing and supplying medication at short notice.
Public service is great service
So, amidst all the daily dynamic requests and tasks from Wednesday to Friday, we pulled off the following:
- Getting the transport warehouse in Bairnsdale opened so the Orbost pharmacist could load his trailer with his pharmaceutical supplies. The transport company is owned by an Omeo family whose founder was on the Omeo Hospital Board for many years. As the DHHS health lead advisor for Omeo Hospital, I was able to connect their depot manager with the pharmaceutical company and get the warehouse opened. The value of local networks and knowledge can never be under-estimated. The pharmacist was able to get from Bairnsdale to Orbost during a window when the highway opened, and opened his pharmacy for a full day on Thursday and until midday Friday to enable residents to fill their prescriptions. He also delivered the medication order from Bairnsdale Hospital pharmacy to Orbost Hospital.
- Getting medication through to our Cann River Bush Nursing Centre via a bus that went into Cann River as part of the escorted convoy that enabled people in Cann River to evacuate to Orbost and beyond.
- Getting medication by military helicopter to the Mallacoota pharmacist, along with sea sickness medication and P2 masks to Mallacoota by naval barge.
- Getting the medication order to Merimbula on Friday by military helicopter.
- Getting the medication to Club Terrace courtesy of a Victoria Police delivery.
- Getting the medication order across the border into Eden on Saturday by military helicopter.
These achievements were the culmination of a big team effort, which also involved the assistance of our DHHS Bairnsdale ICC colleague and her multi-agency collaborators.
And, as I finish writing this little good news story on Sunday evening, I’ve just fielded a phone call from my contact at Sigma Healthcare, asking me if we can assist with an order to a chemist in Batemans Bay.'
As I regularly reminded my fellow VPS colleagues in 2009–10 during the long Black Saturday recovery effort – public service is great service – and public servants do great things.
Page last updated: 19/02/20