Paper presented at the Canberra Hospital – Clinical Grand Rounds for Nurses and Midwives, Canberra, ACT, 25th March 2010.

1. The pre-hospital role of nurses: The 2009 Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires Mr Jamie Ranse: Clinical Manager, Emergency Department – Calvary Health Care ACT Chief Nursing Officer, St John Ambulance Australia Mr Shane Lenson: Manager of Emergency Department Services– Calvary Health Care ACT Mr Brett Aimers: State Professional Officer, St John Ambulance Australia (Victoria)

2. Overview Background Aims Method Results Discussion

3. Background: Black Saturday Bushfires 2009 7th February: Temperature 48.8oC, wind 115km/hr Loss: 2,000 properties 61 businesses 173 lives Numerous displaced persons

4. Background: Disaster Response Australia's health care response to disasters Familiar with the threat of natural disasters Real world disasters not tested St John Ambulance Australia Clinical accreditation framework Health care professionals in St John Role of St John in the bushfires Cross boarder arrangements Education Previous experiences

5. Aim To describe the clinical experience, disaster training / education, and disaster experience of nurses who participated in the February 2009 Victorian Bushfire response and recovery.

6. Method Exploratory and descriptive Purposive sample ~35 Victorian nurses ~20 Nurses from other jurisdictions Identified from a membership database Survey Descriptive statistics Response rate 45%

9. Results Mock disaster type and participation

10. Results Roles during the Black Saturday Bushfires

11. Results Nursing and Midwifery Experience: Nursing Years

12. Discussion Males overrepresented More medical / surgical nursing experience Postgraduate qualifications in critical care Disaster education Disaster training – not bushfire related Experience – bushfires Roles – caring for firefighters in staging areas

13. The pre-hospital role of nurses: The 2009 Black Saturday Victorian Bushfires Mr Jamie Ranse: Clinical Manager, Emergency Department – Calvary Health Care ACT Chief Nursing Officer, St John Ambulance Australia Mr Shane Lenson: Manager of Emergency Department Services– Calvary Health Care ACT Mr Brett Aimers: State Professional Officer, St John Ambulance Australia (Victoria)