The Australasian Ambulance Awards for Excellence have been run by the Council of Ambulance Authorities for over 10 years with the aim to recognise the hard and innovative work of member ambulance services from Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The awards are designed to encourage innovation and to enable services to share their work and learn from each other. The awards are independently judged by a panel of industry-respected judges from across the globe.
| Awards For Excellence Categories
|
| Star Award WinnerQueensland Ambulance Service Stroke Prehospital Informed Decision-Making using EEG Recordings |
Excellence in TechnologySt John New Zealand Using Machine Learning to Inform Helicopter Dispatch Identifying incidents that may benefit from an air dispatch is currently a manual and time-consuming process for the St John NZ Air Desk. To improve this and support the Air Desk, a machine learning (ML) model using gradient boosting has been developed and deployed into the St John real time reporting environment. The aim of this project is to use machine learning to develop a prediction and decision support tool for Air Desk CSOs, to help quickly identify incidents from the stack that likely require a helicopter. The tool should then enable faster decision times, to dispatch helicopters to patients that need them in a timely manner.
| ![]() |
![]() | Excellence in Clinical PracticeQueensland Ambulance Service Stroke Prehospital Informed Decision-Making using EEG Recordings The ‘Stroke Prehospital Informed Decision-making using Electroencephalography Recordings’ (SPIDER) study aimed to take the first step toward investigating a novel technological answer to the prehospital identification of stroke. The main objectives of the project were to investigate the ability of Electroencephalography markers to enable pre-hospital distinction between ischemic stroke cases and all other patients with neurologic symptoms, as well as to investigate distinction between large vessel versus non-large vessel ischaemic stroke cases.
|
Excellence in Staff DevelopmentSt John New Zealand 'On Demand' Online Learning Platform The OnDemand online learning platform has been developed by St John New Zealand to provide thousands of hours of contemporary, targeted, fit-for-purpose, and varied (in topic, design, and duration) learning opportunities for all paramedics. Online learning resources can be added to an individual’s or cohort’s, ‘to do’ list, and any learning conducted on OnDemand auto-populates to the individual’s electronic portfolio of evidence providing easy tracking of continuing professional development (CPD) for professional registration maintenance. The aim of the OnDemand project is to create an intuitive, functional, dynamic, responsive online learning platform, which provides relevant, varied, and ongoing opportunities for CPD, which can be accessed 24/7 from any device.
| ![]() |
![]() | Excellence in Patient CareAmbulance Victoria TelePROMPT Telehealth Prehospital Response of Mental health and Paramedic Team (TelePROMPT) is a pre-hospital response partnering on-scene paramedics with a mental health clinician through telehealth, accessing state-wide mental health records for rapid specialist mental health assessment and triage of patients. TelePROMPT aims to better connect mental health consumers to the right care, at the right time to improve their healthcare experience and outcomes. Benefits of this program include upskilling paramedics as they work closely with mental health clinicians, and reducing the demand by hospital emergency departments.
|
Excellence in LeadershipAmbulance Victoria Social and Environmental Responsibility (Framework & Action Plan) AV’s Social and Environmental Responsibility Framework and Action Plan takes bold steps to reduce the impact of our organisational footprint and engage our people as part of a more socially and environmentally conscious organisation. AV made a commitment to 100% renewables by 2025, the first such commitment from any Australian and New Zealand ambulance services. AV have established a pilot project currently rolling out an energy resilience test site for solar and battery storage in the Grampians. We also commenced a project to develop a net zero ambulance branch concept design to accelerate sustainability goals.
| ![]() |
![]() | Excellence in Mental Health & WellbeingSA Ambulance Service SAAS Mental Health Co-Response (MH-CORE) MH CORE crews consist of a paramedic and a mental health clinician, and are tasked by SAAS to respond to low-medium acuity mental health calls to Triple Zero (000). MH CORE has been successfully helping three-quarters of patients to avoid emergency department presentations, where previously almost all of these people would have been taken to an ED. MH CORE aims to reduce unnecessary ED presentations by people with low-medium acuity mental health concerns, and keep emergency ambulances available in the community for medical response.
|
![]() | Community, Leadership, Life-saving projects win at the CAA AwardsAwards in five categories – patient care, technology, leadership, staff development and clinical performance – were presented at a gala dinner held in conjunction with the CAA19 Congress. CAA Chief Executive David Waters congratulated the finalists and winners for their exemplary work and commitment to excellence. “Each year the CAA Awards sees examples of the incredible, innovative initiatives undertaken by our ambulance services,” Mr Waters said. “The Awards provide an important opportunity for services’ to showcase their projects and celebrate their success.” |
2019 CAA Star Award WINNERThe CAA Star Award is selected from the winners of each of the five categories and was this year presented to Ambulance Victoria for its Analytics Uplift Project. To better support operational managers in driving performance improvements, Ambulance Victoria developed a project to generate better strategic decision making. The project focused on three main areas – improving technology, up-skilling managers and analysts and delivering complex predictive and prescriptive analytics. The project has resulted in positive outcomes including higher levels of job satisfaction, increased in-house analytics capability and the capacity to tackle rapidly changing businesses challenges. Congratulations Ambulance Victoria. | ![]() |
Excellence in Staff Development WINNER:Queensland Ambulance Service: Critical Care Paramedic Leadership Development Program QAS implemented the Critical Care Paramedic Leadership Program for its team of 400 critical care paramedics. The program has worked to encourage CCPs to understand their roles as clinicians and leaders – influential positions involving mentoring and the capacity to drive positive cultural change. The learning process has been well received prompting one participant to describe the program as “by far the best professional development course I have been on.”
| ![]() |
Excellence in Leadership WINNER:South Australian Ambulance Service: SAAS Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) SAAS introduced its Reconciliation Acton Plan as a means to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, increase their rate of employment in its workforce and deliver equality of healthcare to make a positive contribution to Closing the Gap. The respect and trust developed through the program has been invaluable. It has enabled paramedics to provide early interventions in health care helping clients to avoid hospital treatments and empowering them to look after their own health care.
| ![]() |
Excellence in Technology WINNER:WINNER: Ambulance Victoria: Analytics Uplift Project To better support operational managers in driving performance improvements, Ambulance Victoria developed a project to generate better strategic decision making. The project focused on three main areas – improving technology, up-skilling managers and analysts and delivering complex predictive and prescriptive analytics. The project has resulted in positive outcomes including higher levels of job satisfaction, increased in-house analytics capability and the capacity to tackle rapidly changing businesses challenges.
| ![]() |
Excellence in Clinical Performance WINNER:Ambulance Victoria: High-performance CPR: The development and implementation of a state-wide, multi-agency model in Victoria As part of its commitment to adopting the GRA’s ten step program to improve out of hospital cardiac arrests, Ambulance Victoria identified two steps as most significant for patient survival in Victoria – High Performance CPR with ongoing training and quality improvement – and measuring professional resuscitation using defibrillators. The model included the appointment of a resuscitation officer, new cardiac arrest guidelines, a HP CPR education package, collaboration with state fire services and training for university students on clinical placement.
| ![]() |
Our 2019 judges share an incredible amount of expertise and experience across ambulance and health sectors and we are thankful for their time and commitment to judge the 2019 CAA Awards For Excellence.
Professor Vivienne TippettProfessor Tippett is the Director of Research for Queensland University of Technology’s School of Clinical Science. Professor Tippett has worked for nearly 20 years as a clinical researcher in emergency pre-hospital care, including seven years as Director of the Australian Centre for Pre-hospital Care Research at University of Queensland and Queensland Ambulance Service. In recognition of this work, she was awarded the Distinguished Services Medal by the Queensland Ambulance Service in 2011. In 2014 she was acknowledged as one of 125 Women in Leadership awardees by the YWCA. Professor Tippett is currently leading a Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC consortium on emergency warnings and crisis communication. She was awarded the OAM for services to medical education in 2018. | Professor Peter CameronProfessor Cameron is the Academic Director of The Alfred Emergency and Trauma Centre and Professor of Emergency and Divisional Head of Health Services Research at Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Professor Cameron is also the Chair of the Monash/Alfred Injury Network which brings together in excess of 100 researchers to form one of the most comprehensive academic groups in emergency and trauma globally. He is currently a Chief Investigator at the Centre for Research Excellence in Australian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium, the Centre for Research Excellence in Pre- hospital, Emergency Care and a number of partnership and project grants involving injury and trauma research. He has been a principal investigator on a number of large NHMRC multi-centre trials, including The Australasian Resuscitation in Sepsis Evaluation – Randomised Controlled Trial and The RINSE Trial: The Rapid Infusion of Cold Normal SalinE by paramedics during CPR, and is currently a Chief Investigator on the POLAR study of hypothermia in head injury and Reduction of Oxygen After Cardiac Arrest. In the last five years he has published over 150 manuscripts in Medline indexed journals and has over 500 peer-reviewed career publications. | Tony BlaberTony Blaber is a degree qualified Chartered Engineer with experience of industrial and health sector reforms in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. From 1994, he has worked in senior management roles providing ambulance services in the NHS UK and St John in NZ. As a St John Regional Chief Executive he also carried project responsibilities for consolidating the ambulance sector’s nine “111” call handling and dispatching centres into three with unified infrastructure, people, processes and systems. This fostered a closer collaboration with NZ Police and NZ Fire Service and led to the Project Team winning a Council of Ambulance Authorities Excellence in Technical Capability Award for “No wrong door for 111 calls”. Tony represented St John on the Council for a number of years and was appointed Operations Director for St John followed by a new start-up role as Transformation and Innovation Director piloting cross health sector, cross agency projects to transform the delivery of emergency and non-emergency ambulance services to add value to Crown contracts. Since retiring in 2011, and outside of some fundraising efforts for St John and family commitments, Tony’s main other work is as Trustee and Executive Officer of the non-aligned New Zealand Paramedic Education and Research Charitable Trust, formed in 2011, and as an Appointed Director on the Board of Probus South Pacific Limited. | Steve IrvingSteve Irving is an experienced paramedic with over 30 years service in the London Ambulance Service, latterly as Executive Officer to the Chief Executive. Steve has extensive experience of working on national strategic issues across ambulance services, government departments and alongside key stakeholders. Steve now works as Executive Officer at the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) on a full time basis and works closely with the Managing Director across a broad range of AACE related issues. Steve is also the main organiser of the annual Ambulance Leadership Forum, which falls under the AACE remit. |
![]() | CAA Chief Executive David Waters said the 2018 Awards, announced in Auckland, New Zealand, highlighted the range and expertise involved in the work undertaken by ambulance services, and a standard of which all Australians can be proud. “Some 38 outstanding nominations incorporated innovation in fields as diverse as technology, community support, training, medication and built environments,” he said. “Our services are called on to perform roles as varied as assisting with the relocation of hospitals, helping children in isolated communities learn what to do in an emergency and of course life-saving interventions.” Mr Waters congratulated each of the finalists and winners who were presented with trophies at the Gala Awards Dinner in Auckland sponsored by SDSI. An overview of the 38 award nominations is available in the CAA Australasian Ambulance Magazine. |
2018 CAA Star Award WINNERA tool to detect severe forms of stroke and facilitate rapid treatment for clot retrieval was the outstanding winner of the CAA 2018 Awards For Excellence. Dr Henry Zhao, Principal Investigator at the Royal Melbourne Hospital & Ambulance Victoria and Professor Karen Smith from Ambulance Victoria received the Star Award for their ACT-FAST tool, a clinical triage algorithm for stroke clot retrieval. ACT-FAST, which also won the Clinical category, was the result of a project which aimed to create a simple and easily deployable paramedic procedure for identification of stroke patients requiring clot retrieval surgery.
| ![]() |
|
| ||||
|
|