Health quality improved

POMEDH4 Malcolm Mills and ABMED3 Daniel Chandler at work in the Medical Simulator during the MOHW at TC-WEST HMAS Stirling.

By CPO Vaughan King.
“Adrenaline 1:1000 1ml given intravenously at time 10:08” repeats the ABMED.

This is how the scenario begins to unfold as Phase 3 and 4 medics practised a cardiac protocol in the Medical Simulator as part of the Maritime Operational Health Workshop (MOHW) at HMAS Stirling last month.

The workshop is a part of the Maritime Operational Health Quality Improvement Program (MOHQuIP), a program designed to ensure that operationally deployable medical sailors remain current in professional knowledge and clinical skills.

In the past it has been assumed that currency and competency of medical sailors could be maintained during normal duties.

This, however, is not the case.

Medical sailors can now maintain their currency and competency by joining the program, which consists of three phases.

Phase one involves their completion of a flexible learning package via distance learning.

On completion, they can nominate for Phase two, which is a MOHW.

These workshops last for four days and are conducted throughout Australia, wherever a medical simulator is located.
Currently this could be at either HMA Ships Cerberus, Stirling, Penguin or Coonawarra.

The final part of the program requires the medic to carry out a clinical placement, conduct medical health briefings, organise a disaster exercise or simply reach a standard achieved in a Mission Ready Evaluation.

On successful completion the medic will be assigned a Health Employment Proficiency Award - Navy (HEPA-N) number PMKeys 101612.

A MOHW has just been conducted at HMAS Stirling, where CPOMED Vaughan King and POMED Brett Hablethwaite, both from the Medical School at Cerberus, assessed eight sailors.

They all agreed that this concept was long overdue and that they all benefited greatly from their time in the simulator working on their protocols.

For more information on the MOHQuIP refer to DI(N) PERS 75 - 48 or simply contact CPO King on 03 5950 6192.

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