ID-5184 Wonca Abstracts supplement A-K 13-10-23 - Flipbook - Page 79
WONCA 2023 Supplement 1: WONCA 2023 abstracts (A–K)
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‘Over our heads’: Lessons from doctors’ responses to the
Northern Rivers flooding
Mrs Julia Kwiet1, Oliver Bennett2, Dr Sue Velovski2, Dr Michele Blandford3, Annette Lenstra5,
Prof Stewart Dunn1,4
1
Medical Benevolent Association NSW, 2Lismore Base Hospital, 3Keen Street Medical Practice,
Lismore, 4Sydney Medical School Northern Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards,
5
NSW Rural Doctors Network
Aim
To share the experiences and impacts of the 2022 Northern Rivers floods.
Content
Over four days in February 2022, an estimated 670 mm of rain fell in the NSW Northern Rivers region.
In Lismore, several GP premises were flooded, losing files, equipment and vaccination stores. Some
lost their livelihood and homes. All compounded by a second major flood 28 days later. Young hospital
doctors, some in the first weeks of internship, were exposed to demands well ‘beyond their pay grade’
as they struggled to care for traumatised patients in overstretched hospitals and hastily deployed
evacuation centres.
There is no research that describes the psychological impact of catastrophic floods on a medical
community. Months later, the impact continues to be profound and far-reaching.
In November – December 2022, the Medical Benevolent Association NSW, supported by the NSW
Rural Doctors Network, funded a team to explore the impact within the Lismore medical community.
Emergent themes included:
•
The challenge of describing ‘surreal’ experiences to others, loss and emptiness
•
Feeling disconnected, not good enough
•
Experiences akin to working in a war zone
•
Continuing limitations in equipment and resources
•
Lack of support for GPs from government and being left out of disaster response/rebuild
•
Reinterpretation of choices constructing shame, blame, guilt and insecurity
•
Feelings cascade: anger, rage, apathy, depersonalisation, burnout
Trauma has no narrative; it intrudes and overwhelms. It needs to be expressed and understood.
Ignoring trauma can have profound consequences.
Ignoring human experiences removes our capacity to learn from them.
Goals
•
Develop a common understanding of the ongoing impacts of the 2022 floods
•
Highlight the unmet needs of Northern Rivers doctors
•
Challenge participants on how they would respond to similar events in their local context
•
Educate on the common psychological impacts identified in the debrief sessions.
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