Four of the Tarawera Medical Centre team (Tony, Mick, Louisa and Jackie) spent their weekend with a group of rural GPs and nurses completing a PRIME update course with St. John in Hamilton. We have always supported the St. John ambulance staff with the fantastic job they do for our community and with the advent of the PRIME service our doctors completed the original series of courses. These were a one week intensive course with theoretical and practical training in emergency management of medical and accident emergencies and included numerous scenarios including extrication of injured patients from vehicle accidents in conjunction with Fire Service and Ambulance staff. Louisa completed her initial course soon after starting to work with us (this is her second update course) and Aidan completed his initial course last year soon after he began at the Tarawera Medical Centre. We spend a weekend every two years updating skills and learning the latest procedures and techniques as they evolve and this helps us work as efficiently as possible in supporting our local ambulance. We often respond and assist at medical and accident incidents, the most dramatic of which had 4 of us involved in calling in 3 helicopters to evacuate 4 injured children from a car accident, all of whom did well despite significant injuries. We have been the only practice in Kawerau to ever do this training and Kawerau, with Opotiki,  are the only Eastern Bay  towns to have this service. St. John is part of the wide team we work with to offer comprehensive Primary Health Care to our community and we enjoy the ability to work efficiently with them. Thanks to Kath and John, the two Intensive Care Paramedics, who ran a great course. Congratulations to our team who all passed the end of course assessments.

Mick Lavelle managing an emergency scenario

The group watching a demonstration by the two St.John paramedic instructors

Mick, Louisa and Jackie practicing with a Kendrick Extraction Device to remove an injured person form a vehicle

This month marks 25 years since the Tarawera Medical Centre opened as Kawerau’s first ever medical centre, the town having previously been served by solo practices. Celebrations kicked off today with the blessing of our recently extended and refurbished facilities. The blessing was performed by George Raerino and Graham Te Rire and attended by a large group from the wide team that we work with in the community. These included the Mayor, representatives from Whakatane Hospital, the Eastern Bay of Plenty Health Aliance, Tuwharetoa Ki Kawerau Hauora, Kawerau and Tarawera Pharmacies, Tarawera High School, Community Respiratory nurses and School Rheumatic fever prevention team. It was great to share this celebration with some of the broader team we have worked with to provide Primary Care to the Kawerau population over the past quarter century. It is these long established relationships that help us to efficiently access the necessary services for our patients. Margaret Paul was recognised for her long service, having been practice nurse at one of the practices prior to amalgamation into the Tarawera Medical Centre.

Mayor, Malcolm Campbell, expressed kind words of appreciation for the dedication and quality of service provided to the community, especially through the trying times after the departure of Dr. Ian Bissett, and this was echoed by Chris Marjoribanks from the Hauora. Michele Murray from EBPHA also commented on the quality of the practice and complimented the practice as being the first to have completed Cornerstone reaccreditation. Since the arrival of Dr. Aidan Williams in early 2013 and the return of Dr. Louisa Barter in late 2013 we have at last returned to a decent staffing level and this was further improved when Dr. Byrdie Johnson began in March this year.

After the blessing and speeches it was great to enjoy some lunch and a warm drink with our guests before getting back into a busy afternoon of work. Fortunately the weather smiled on us and there were no urgent PRIME callouts like the one Dr. Lavelle had attended earlier in the day – the clinics had been so busy through the morning that it seemed we may not finish in time for the planned 12:30 start. Special thanks to Jeanette Edwards and the rest of the staff that put all the time into organising the day.

George Raerino and Graham Te Rire

Graham Te Rire and George Raerino commencing the blessing

Staff and guests following Graham and George as the blessing is performed

Michele Murray addressing the guests

Richard Forster, Kawerau Pharmacy staff with Kathy Jones, Jo Knott (school nurse) and TMC staff

Jeanette Edwards, Dr. Aidan Williams, Dr. Mick Lavelle, Mayor Malcolm Campbell

Lisa Pedersen from Tarawera Pharmacy with TMC staff

Graham and George after the blessing and some of our guests enjoying lunch

Anne from the Hepatitis Foundation held 2 clinics at the Tarawera Medical Centre this week. This enabled Kawerau patients with Hepatitis B or C who were due for a Fibroscan assessment to access this important test without travelling out of town. The Fibroscan helps measure scarring of the liver and can help guide treatment to limit liver damage form chronic hepatitis infection. Previously a liver biopsy was required to gain this type of information so this painless, non-invasive test is a real step forward. Dr. Aidan Williams volunteered to have a scan done so that we could see how the process worked. Further clinics will be arranged as needed to maintain follow-up as conveniently as possible. See the Hepatitis Foundation website for more information including risk factors for Hepatitis B and C and an online Risk Calculator

Just a reminder that our hours are 8 to 6 every week day so after school or after work appointments and emergency consultations are available every day. The drop in clinic on a Friday afternoon remains very popular before the weekend.

Aidan having a Fibroscan

Having investigated the growing range automatic defibrillators over the past 6 months we finally settled on the model offered by St. Johns and our unit was delivered last week. With five of our doctors and one of our nurses trained as PRIME practitioners, we regularly attend callouts to support the ambulance and paramedics but it will be nice to have on-site access to a defibrillator if needed in emergency. Previously defibrillators have been large, very expensive units but with technological advances, compact, relatively reasonable units are available. While not exactly cheap at approx $3500 they  can make a significant difference in sudden cardiac arrest survival by eliminating the delay in waiting for an ambulance equipped with a defibrillator. Hopefully our record of not needing one in the practice over the past 25 years will continue, but at least we now have one available if the need arises.

Heartstart Automatic External Defibrillator

Heartstart AED easily available if needed