Reflections

Hope for the best, plan for the worst. It is the motto adopted by parents planning school vacations, a mountaineer tackling a tricky pass or a college student sitting down to study for the end of year exams.

But for Deirdre Tame (Nursing, 1993) it is a career.

In 2006 Ms Tame was awarded the 2006 Bali Nursing Fellowship by the Western Australian Government. The award allows her to visit hospitals around the world, evaluating how they have responded to large-scale disasters and making recommendations based on her findings.

The $15,000 award is also a public recognition of her expertise and commitment to emergency nursing. At the award presentation State Health Minister Jim Ginty praised Ms Tame saying, "Deirdre works at the frontline of emergency management in this state."

In the emergency department of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital where she works Ms Tame has had to deal with emergencies of varying proportions-sick children, burns, dislocations, major road and rail accidents, she has seen them all. But in the current world climate hospitals must be prepared for incidents on a much wider scale.

"Hospital emergency departments must be able to deal with every situation, ranging from fairly minor incidents through to flu pandemics or acts of terrorism, where dozens of people may need medical help," says Minister Ginty.

Ms Tame will visit hospitals in Madrid, London, Belfast, New York, Washington and Darwin to learn about emergency procedures developed following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and bombings in Spain, the United Kingdom and Bali.

"The hospitals I will visit have been at the forefront of disaster management and have addressed problems such as surge capacity and the prioritisation of patient flow," she says. "I will also attend the World Conference in Disaster Management to be held in Canada."

Ms Tame was humbled to be awarded the fellowship, which carries the weight of the 202 killed following the 2002 Bali bombings, which the award commemorates.

While much work lies ahead for her let us join with Ms Tame in hoping that the things she will learn and bring back may never need to be used on our shores.

 BRADEN BLYDE