BE. HERE. NOW

Date: Tuesday 27 July 2021
Time: 8.00am - 12.00pm (AEST)
Location: Cairns Convention Centre & Online
Cost: Face-to-Face $225.00 / Virtual $160.00

This workshop is about YOU - the emergency medicine physician. How to bring your humanity and the gift of who you are to the workplace. How you can navigate competence, credibility and compassion in the high pressure, high stakes environment on Emergency medicine.

Please join us in what seems a novel way of being and let us show you that all the skills you need are teachable, trainable and accessible to you all the time.

This offering is available in both face to face and virtual* platforms.

*registration for the virtual version requires groups of 2-3 participants as a group.

Climate + Action

Date: Tuesday 27 July 2021
Time: 8.30am - 12.00pm (AEST)
Location: Cairns Convention Centre & Online
Cost: Face-to-Face $130.00 / Virtual $90.00

Action and advocacy are familiar skills for emergency physicians. The focus of this workshop is responding to the Climate Emergency. In the last few years, we have borne witness to the health impacts of climate change. This was especially evident in the Black Summer of 2019. The science is clear that climate change is accelerating, degrading the environment, and causing more frequent and worsening extreme weather events. We need to lead the change for a better and more sustainable future, before we cross the threshold of irreversible destruction of the only planet we have. Being a change agent requires more than just an idea. We need practical actions, informed by evidence and experience, for our personal lives, our workplaces and the broader public domain. This interactive workshop will be led by emergency physicians who understand advocacy and have a passion for creating change. They will be joined by guests who are experts in the arena of climate science to deepen the discussion and focus on the tools that translate the ideas and knowledge into effective action.

Dr Stephen Gourley (Facilitator) – DEM at Alice Springs Hospital. I have an MPH and MHM but have not specifically had a lot of experience in climate change per se. I do have some skills and experience in advocacy and media training through the following – NT Faculty Chair for several years; Deputy Chair of the National Rural Health Alliance and have done 6 years of going to Parliament House in Canberra to lobby politicians in their offices; VP of AMA NT and regular appointments with the Health Minister and media involvement within the NT.

Dr Marianne Cannon – Emergency Physician, and until recently AMAQ councilor, and Public health and disaster Committee member. Also MPH with interest in marginalized populations, and disaster mitigation. I fell into activism, when I realized that, as an emergency  doctor this is our lane AND we had a power that we hadn’t  leveraged . With AMAQ (and CAHA) I have met with several politicians, usually acting as the “bad cop” . (ie the upper part of the hockey stick curve is a genocide  in human health – not a legacy anyone wants, do you ?)  . Putting this is an Australian framework -for Australian politicians means a focus on heat related illness as a silent killer. While my work with ACEM and AMAQ possibly has had  an impact , it is as a shareholder and third sector donor that I have had most impact in this collective effort .It would be ideal  to see ACEM (via national cabinet or other vehicle) drive this narrative in Australia , as we still are a world laggard in decarbonization.

Dr Lai Heng Foong – is an Emergency Physician based in Sydney who has a passion for Public Health and Disaster preparedness including Climate change and health impacts, Indigenous Health and the social determinants of health. She is currently the Chair of the Public Health and Disaster Committee of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM), and a member of the Indigenous Health Committee.  She is the current Chair of the NSW ED Community of Practice (CoP) in Covid-19 Response. She is a member of the Multi College Climate Change and Health Project of the Royal Australasian College for Physicians (RACP).  She has been active in Climate Advocacy for the last few years.  She led ACEM’s effort to declare a Climate Emergency during the ASM in Hobart in 2019, divestment from Fossil fuels in college investments and also banking.  She worked with Dr Marianne Cannon on the Environmental Strategy and Environmental Action Plan for ACEM.  Through the Doctors for the Environment (DEA) she has been involved in multi-college collaboration and teaching and working on Climate Action at various levels of society.  She has also given talks to the Royal College for Emergency Medicine (RCEM), International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM) and to General practitioners and Junior Medical Officers (JMOs). 

Simon Thomson – As an environmentalist and scientist I understand the benefits of rapid decarbonisation and the cost of failing to do this. I studied climate science back in the early 90’s. My career has been focused on botany and ecology but continued study and educating about climate. Working with Cape York Indigenous people I have recorded climate change impacts including saltpan expansion and tree mortality. Privately I have tried to minimise my families carbon footprint through efficiency, solar and battery. Through opening my home at sustainable house day, I have tried to educate people about the financial benefits of making small changes to reduce our impact. Unfortunately, climate change is a massive issue, and the changes need to be proportionate. I like to take a technology agnostic, first principles physics approach to big problems. Controversially, that includes nuclear power. The science and evidence say it is the safest and most effective way forward. We need to overcome the fear and misinformation and listen to the science.

David Blake – Having been concerned about climate change since the early nineties, I returned to university as a mature aged student without a clear plan other than to understand the science and then use that to try to make some contribution. That led ultimately to a PhD in photovoltaic materials via atmospheric physics and meteorology. Having become convinced that what was needed was not more research but electrons in wires, I decided to turn to the dark side; commercial utility-scale renewable energy development. I then spent approximately 11 years in that industry during which time I led the development (from greenfield) of more than 1.5GW of wind and solar capacity. The first of these projects, the 317MW Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park is currently under construction. I stepped away from the industry in 2019 and I’m currently taking a couple of years off to think about what comes next.

Donnel Briley - Professor Briley is a social psychologist who has explored how various aspects of people’s identities affect their evaluations of and responses to marketplace stimuli. Studies in this stream have focused on ethnicity (e.g., black, white, Asian), nationality (e.g., Chinese, American) and political orientation (conservative, liberal)—identity dimensions that are receiving increasing attention in Australia and world-wide. His research shows that consumers routinely draw on foundational knowledge shaped by their backgrounds and identities to make sense of judgment and decision making contexts. Professor Briley’s work extends to the health domain, where he brings together consumer behaviour, psychology and health research streams to reveal hurdles to well-being and develop strategies for overcoming them. As a psychologist, his research leverages the ties between the body and mind, identifying effective psychological tools for keeping people mentally and physically healthy. These studies address key health issues of interest to health psychologists, including finding ways to motivate better health-related decision (e.g., eating, exercise, therapies, medications); developing and testing psychological interventions for patients; and exploring approaches for improving the effectiveness of health-related communications. As an example, findings from Professor Briley’s studies show new approaches for helping patients to maintain a positive, optimistic psychological stance.

Nerve Block Workshop

Date: Tuesday 27 July 2021
Time: 8.00am - 4.30pm (AEST)
Location: Cairns Convention Centre 
Cost: $395

Nerve blocks are commonly used in ED and their use has been made safer with the advert on ultrasound. This masterclass will cover anatomical and technical fundamentals of USS-guided anaesthesia from maxillo-facial area to the ankles. There will be a stepwise workflow from probe and local anaesthetic selection and delivery techniques, preparation particular attention to sterile procedures and hints and gems on maximizing results. The faculty will be a combination of FACEMS with interests in an anaesthetics and USS, consultant anaesthetists and well established dentists. The hope is that they leave you the executional confidence required to take back to your clinical practice.

Fast Track your CPD

Date: Tuesday 27 July 2021
Time: 1.00pm - 4.00pm (AEST)
Location: Cairns Convention Centre & Online
Cost: No charge

Find out what’s changed in 2021. Participate in a short program designed to meet the new “measuring outcomes” component of CPD hours. Engage in hands-on exploration of the new ACEM CPD Portal.

The what, why and how of the ACEM CPD program explained in detail.

Join CPD committee members and CPD staff as they breakdown the ACEM CPD program components in an easy to understand format.

You will find out why the program has changed and how your activities fit into the three new CPD categories.

Learn how to create a Professional Development Plan and keep a procedural skills log.

The workshop includes an interactive outcomes measurement session, which is offered in conjunction with a short online program.

Completing both the workshop and the online program will achieve your required "outcomes measurement" hours for the CPD year.

Botanical Walk

Date: Tuesday 27 July 2021
Time: 1.00pm - 4.00pm (AEST)
Location: Cairns Botanical Gardens (will depart and return to the Cairns Convention Centre)
Cost: $75.00

July, while southern states shiver in the grip of winter, Cairns is bathed in balmy days, calm seas and many flowering plants.The Cairns Botanical Garden houses the best collection of tropical plants in Australia. These are concentrated in The Flecker Garden, named after Dr Hugo Flecker a radiologist. 

Digby Green, local Cairns Emergency Physician and self-confessed tropical plantaholic, will lead participants on a walk to take in the diversity of native and exotic plants, some with culinary or toxic properties.

From the outright beautiful to the decidedly odd, this 3 hour activity will have something for everyone, including afternoon tea in the Botanicals Café.

Don’t forget your hat.

Reef Trip

Date: Saturday 31 July 2021
Time: 8.00am - 5.00pm (AEST)
Location: Departs from and return to Cairns Marina
Cost: $182.50

Ticket price includes the following:

- Return Silverswift cruise from Cairns, visiting 3 reef sites.
- Morning and afternoon teas.
- Hot and cold tropical smorgasbord lunch.
- Snorkel equipment (mask, snorkel & fins) and instruction provided.
- Snorkel brief at each site.
- Guided Snorkel Tour.
- Qualified lifeguards on hand.
- Equipment for divers provided, including wetsuits.
- All dives are guided.
- Lycra suits provided.
- Prescription masks available at no extra cost.
- Scuba diving is available at an additional cost.