Latest news and events

Congratulations to Dubbo Health Service.

In 2022, two Indigenous ACEM trainees proposed an innovative off-site cultural immersion program for ED staff, enabling groups to visit local sites and engage with Aboriginal people, groups and organisations to strengthen cultural competence and understanding. Since then, three multi-day tours have been delivered.

This initiative is highly valued, particularly by non-Aboriginal staff who consistently report the tours as the most useful and relevant cultural education resource for understanding local culture, people and environment. With Dubbo ED recording the highest number of Aboriginal patient presentations in NSW – 13,500 in 2024 – the program is of clear significance and has been strongly supported by departmental and facility leadership.

Congratulations to St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.

To address systemic inequities in emergency care access, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne ED has implemented several targeted initiatives. These include a mandatory Australasian Triage Category Minimum Category Three policy, ensuring all First Nations patients receive medical assessment and treatment within 30 minutes of arrival. This approach has successfully closed the gap in documented disparities in wait times compared to non-Indigenous patients.

First Nations patients also receive early engagement from Aboriginal Hospital Liaison Officers via the Rapid Identification and Engagement of First Nations People in ED pathway. This promotes culturally safe care, improves communication and enhances trust in the healthcare system.

Congratulations to Toowoomba Hospital.

In 2022, the Toowoomba Emergency Department Cultural, Refugee, Environment and Wellbeing group was established to identify areas for improvement. Working with Indigenous Liaison Officers and the Hospital Cultural Capability Officer, the group identified the ED’s physical environment as an area for enhancement.

Through community engagement, it was proposed that artwork celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage throughout the ED would improve comfort and engagement, particularly as a first point of contact for patients.

Three local Aboriginal artists were commissioned to create artworks featuring cultural symbols, Aboriginal language, words of affirmation and a soothing aesthetic, which were then installed in high-impact areas in the ED.

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, noting improved cultural safety, a welcoming environment, increased staff pride, and greater awareness of Aboriginal stories, culture and heritage.

Gender-based violence is not just a social issue - it’s also one of the nation’s most pressing public health crises. In many cases, health professionals are the only ones who see its warning signs, engaging with patients - both victim-survivors and offenders - at precisely the moments when violence often begins or escalates: pregnancy, early parenthood, and emergencies. Yet coronial inquiries continue to show that opportunities to intervene are still being missed, sometimes with fatal consequences.

This presentation argues for mobilising the health system as a first line of defence, with a focus on equipping health professionals to recognise and respond to coercive control — now a criminal offence in Queensland. It will examine the systemic and personal barriers that hold practitioners back - from lack of training and privacy to persistent myths that violence is “not my business” - and outline the reforms that could to remove them.

ACEM is pleased to announce that the inaugural ACEM Foundation Kelly Research Grant 2025 has been awarded to Dr Alana Harper for the proposed research study, SWiFT Aotearoa.

SWiFT Aotearoa is the Study of Whole Blood in Frontline Trauma in Aotearoa New Zealand. This is a randomised double-blinded feasibility study assessing the pre-hospital administration of Platelet-Rich Whole Blood (PRWB – intervention) versus Platelet-Poor Whole Blood (WB – control) in patients who have life-threatening traumatic haemorrhage. It will be the first study of its kind internationally to compare these two whole blood products in the pre-hospital setting. The trial will be delivered jointly by Northern Rescue Helicopter in Auckland and New Zealand Blood Services – a partnership that is already a decade old!

Congratulations to Dr Alana Brunner-Parker for being awarded the ACEM Foundation International Development Grant 2025.

Dr Brunner-Parker’s project ‘Roll out of Basic Emergency Care Course in Tonga‘ aims to roll out the WHO Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course across Tonga, ensuring equitable access for all emergency care providers. By training local facilitators and master trainers, it builds sustainable capacity for ongoing emergency care education nationwide.

Congratulations to Dr Timothy Langford for being awarded the ACEM Foundation International Development Grant 2025.

Dr Langford’s project ‘Equipping the Solomon Islands to roll out the WHO BEC program‘ aims to equip the Solomon Islands emergency medicine team with the tools and training needed to independently deliver the WHO Basic Emergency Care (BEC) program. By developing a local network of BEC facilitators and master trainers, it supports sustainable, nationwide rollout of emergency care education, aligned with regional and WHO 25x25 goals.

Congratulations to Dr Rob Mitchell for being awarded the ACEM Foundation International Development Grant 2025.

Dr Mitchell’s project ‘Developing a catalogue of globally-relevant imagery and iconography for triage and emergency care training’ aims to create a comprehensive catalogue of culturally adaptable images, icons, and animations to support emergency care training, particularly for triage in resource-limited settings. The catalogue will be used in digital and print materials, with an immediate focus on supporting the rollout of the Interagency Integrated Triage Tool (IITT), especially in Papua New Guinea where it is now the national triage scale.

Congratulations to Dr Holly Bannon-Murphy for being awarded the ACEM Foundation International Development Grant 2025.

Dr Bannon-Murphy’s project ‘The Gambia Emergency and Trauma Collaboration (GETC)‘ aims to strengthen emergency and trauma care at EFSTH Bakau Centre through triage system implementation, emergency medicine training, and protocol development, with support from Australian and Gambian health professionals. Following successful rollout, these interventions will serve as a model for national scale-up, aligning with WHO goals for accessible, effective emergency care and the 25x25 Basic Emergency Care campaign.

‘I've worked in research in emergency medicine for a long time and I know how hard it is to get research programs started and to get a grant to get meaningful research done,’ FACEM Professor Anne-Maree Kelly said.

That experience and insight was the motivation for a new research grant launching in February 2025.

The ACEM Foundation Kelly Research Grant was established following a generous donation to the Foundation by Anne-Maree and her partner Colin Yates.

Conversations the couple had about her pathway toward retirement led to one particularly focused discussion about ways to make a sustainable difference.