Nineteen U.A.E. Paramedics have returned from a study tour of Australian ambulance services, undertaken as part of continuing Paramedic Degree studies at the Higher Colleges of Technology Men's College in Dubai of the 19 students, 14 of them were from the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) while the remainder were from Abu Dhabi.
The tour lasted three weeks, during which the paramedics spent time with the Queensland Ambulance Service in Brisbane, the NSW Ambulance Service in Sydney and Ambulance Victoria, in Melbourne.
The key focus points of the study tour was to examine organisation structure, clinical governance and standards, ambulance dispatch, disaster planning, major event planning, and a major highlight of the trip was a two day workshop focusing on disaster management, business continuity and pandemic planning.
Another major focus of the trip was to see how international ambulance services have planned for major events. Australia has had plenty of experience having previously hosted World Expos and most recently the Olympic Games.
The paramedics also benefited from experiencing the Clinical Simulation Laboratories at Queensland Ambulance and Queensland University of Technology.
They spent two days of rigorous clinical training conducted in the simulated environment. Scenarios included trauma and medical emergencies.
As well as three weeks of hard work and site visits, the paramedics were also able to experience the culture and life of Australia. They experienced Australian wildlife at Australia Zoo, visited the Gold Coast, experienced the Outback Spectacular show-casing Australian history, and enjoyed the Vivid Light Spectacular at Sydney Harbour.