09 July 2008

Health services on track for half a million World Youth Day visitors

Twenty ambulances and paramedic crews plus up to fifty health professionals at a time will be on site at key World Youth Day venues to provide health services for crowds of up to 500,000 people.

Iemma Government spokesperson for World Youth Day, Kristina Keneally, said the massive health preparations are proportional to the size and scale of the World Youth Day event – the biggest event in the world this year outside of the Beijing Olympics.

“The Iemma Government’s health plan for World Youth Day has been underway for two years, including training exercises between the NSW Ambulance Service, St John Ambulance and NSW Health to test patient flow at major venues,” Ms Keneally said.

“NSW Health, NSW Ambulance and St John Ambulance services will be mobilised to provide a safe event for crowds of 125,000 international visitors and 100,000 registered Australian participants, who will be joined for key World Youth Day events by up to 300,000 Sydneysiders.

“NSW Health will operate one on-site Medical Unit at Barangaroo and three more at Randwick and one at Centennial Parklands, each of which will be staffed by two emergency and general practice doctors, four nurses, one administration staffer, one public health surveillance officer and other health representatives as required.

“St John Ambulance will have an Advanced Casualty Management Centre (ACMC) at Darling Harbour and Centennial Parklands, staffed by two volunteer doctors, two volunteer nurses, one volunteer paramedic or enrolled nurse, three first responders (volunteers) plus a public health surveillance officer.

“20 dedicated NSW Ambulances will join St John Ambulances and crews to render assistance and transport people to on-site medical units or ACMCs if required for further treatment.

“The fleet of 20 ambulances includes 14 new ones which have been brought forward specifically for World Youth Day on the Ambulance Fleet plan, and six vehicles whose lease has been extended for the World Youth Day period, that will then be decommissioned.

“Having services on-site will encourage pilgrims to seek medical help early, reduce the number of event-related ambulance transports to hospital and the impact on local emergency departments.

“It’s expected that many visitors attended to by Onsite Medical Units for conditions such as dehydration, sprains and strains and mild asthma will be able to return to the event following treatment.

“The Units will also be staffed and equipped to deal with more serious problems such as wounds, prescribing and administering medications and can deliver advanced resuscitation if required. Patients requiring diagnostic treatment will be transported by paramedics to appropriate hospitals.”

Ms Keneally said the Ambulance Service will use a range of vehicles throughout World Youth Day events as well as for the Papal Motorcades that will occur during the Pope’s stay in Sydney.

“The 20 NSW Ambulance vehicles covering World Youth Day are over and above operations for daily ambulance work, reducing the impact of the event on the normal daily operations of the NSW Ambulance Service,” Ms Keneally said.

“NSW Ambulance Service vehicles which will be used include Multi Purpose Vehicles and motorcycles. The multi purpose ambulances, which are appropriate for mass casualty incidents and special operational deployments, are the same type which were successfully involved in the APEC motorcade.”

Ms Keneally said the health preparations for World Youth Day were part of the $86 million worth of Government services which will be delivered to support the event.

“Through good planning and resource management the Iemma Government will ensure that local, national and international participants in World Youth Day have a safe and enjoyable time,” Ms Keneally said.

For a range of health information, go online to www.health.nsw.gov.au