Presentations
2021 3rd Annual EMS Leadership Summit
Change within your workplace; strategies, capability improvement and educational reform
In December 2020, Duncan was offered a new role with St. John Ambulance Australia (NT) inc, as the Clinical Manager to implement the style of transformational change and development he had applied across Mongolia and the Maldives, within an Australian Health Care System. The work has included developing clinical and corporate governance frameworks, response capability frameworks, cultural change, clinical reform and education strategies as well as integrating all this across a mix of government and non-government agencies within the Northern Territory of Australia.
Duncan will be discussing how he has begun implementing the same style of transformational leadership strategies, operational capability improvements and educational reform he has used internationally, across an organisation that has had little to no change over the past 10 years. He will be highlighting the many challenges and successes he has had so far, plus the strategies he has in place to ensure growth, sustainability and transformational change not only within his own organisation and the health care network it works within.
2020 2nd Annual EMS Leadership Summit
EMS Leadership in Developing Countries
Since 2017 Duncan has been working with the Ministry of Health, the Republic of the Maldives, Ministry of Health Mongolia and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to implement change and development within the delivery of Emergency Medical Services.
This work has included the ground up development of new National Ambulance Service in the Maldives and the redevelopment of Ambulance Service Delivery in Mongolia.
The work has included developing clinical and corporate governance, changes to health law, recognition of paramedics as a recognised health professional, response capability frameworks, educational development strategies and the implementation of sustainable systems to enable growth and future development of ambulances services within both countries.
Duncan will be discussing how he has implemented transformational leadership strategies, educational reform and the many challenges he has faced along the way.
Duncan was not alone on this journey and will discuss how international collaboration with colleagues from Canada and the USA have helped shape these projects and how globalisation teams like this, are enabling the growth of paramedicine as an industry world-wide.
IRCP / CAA Auckland, New Zealand 2018
Environmental Methods of Simulation in Paramedic Education
Simulation has become a major learning paradigm across industries around the world today. Paramedicine is no exception to this, with it now playing a major part in the delivery of both the education of our future paramedics but also within skill maintenance and development of qualified paramedics as well. Simulation now enables the learner to have a more authentic learning experience, which ultimately enables them to learn, apply, reflect and improve, before they ever touch a real patient.
When designing simulation for the novice or experienced practitioner, we seem to spend more time focused on a task specific skill or a combination of skills to achieve a desired need or learning outcome. Often the design and layout is very plain or simple and without the many of the common environmental factors that occur around paramedics as they do their jobs.
Adding environmental factors to your simulations provides an entirely different simulation experience to all levels of learners. How can your paramedic student or experienced paramedic alike prepare themselves to actually perform their role effectively, if they have never been exposed to very environmental factors associated with this profession they may face.
Implementation of environmental factors into your simulations can be achieved in multiple low cost solutions, many of which you may already have at home or within your workplace. Using a Bluetooth speaker with a child’s cry on loop, introducing a real animal into the scenario or even using a broken or non-functioning manikin as your extrication manikin in a difficult location, as just some of the low cost, high impact training solutions you can achieve via the addition of environmental factors to your simulations. How else can you train for the unexpected, if the unexpected is not part of your training.
EMS World / IRCP Las Vegas 2017
Authentic Simulation via Inter-professional Learning
Simulation has become a major learning paradigm across industries around the world today. Paramedicine is no exception to this, with it now playing a major part in the delivery of both the education of our future paramedics but also within skill maintenance and development of qualified paramedics as well. Simulation now enables the learner to have a more authentic learning experience, which ultimately enables them to learn, apply, reflect and improve, before they ever touch a real patient.
The Griffith University, School of Medicine, Paramedicine Program takes this simulation to another level, by taking advantage of its position within the School of Medicine, which sits inside the Universities Health Group. This position enables other schools within this Health Group to participate in authentic simulation exercises, each tailored to the specific needs of that group, but ultimately providing a patient journey from the prehospital space, emergency department, ward admission, right the way through to allied health services that provide discharge advice and services.
This inter-professional learning environment provides our students with an authentic and real-time learning experience, far beyond anything you can achieve from just inside a classroom. It also introduces and prepares them for the team-based approach required in today’s holistic approach to health care, which ultimately leads to a gold standard of patient care.
Canadian Ambulance Chiefs / IRCP Saskatoon 2016
The Immersive Ambulance Simulation Module – bringing your vehicles inside the class room
Simulation modules have been used in aviation and other industries for a large number of years. Pilot’s sit in a complete replica cockpit practicing procedures, checklists and emergencies just like they were in a real aircraft. This type of training saves thousands of dollars in aircraft operating costs, helps identify ways to prevent aircraft disasters from happing again that are based on pilot error and enables pilots maintain various currencies and other job-based skill requirements they need to maintain, as per government regulations and/or company requirements.
The Griffith University, School of Medicine, Paramedicine Program, has just created the ambulance equivalent to what airlines use to train pilots. This ambulance simulation module enables Griffith University students to perform assessments, training and development inside a full size ambulance, complete with outside visual clues and sounds. Outside the module, the walls have projected video or still images, based on the scenario or scene they are attending, so no matter what aspect of the scenario students are in, they are completely immersed both inside and outside the ambulance simulation module. This immersive environment provides a much more realistic setting and learning environment to students as they progress through their paramedicine degree.
