College Activities – COVID-19 Response
Members will be aware of the coronavirus (COVID-19) that is currently causing disruptions, illnesses and some deaths in a number of countries. Although COVID-19 has caused mostly minor symptoms for the majority of those who have become infected, for a small percentage infection has led to pneumonia and ICU admission, and for a small subset has resulted in death.
Based on the Australian Government’s assessment of the current status of COVID-19 in Australia, and the raising internationally to pandemic status, the College has decided to proactively manage our activities to minimise the likelihood of COVID-19 spreading from person-to-person at one of our events.
The College will be postponing the Trauma on the Border conference and the Rural, Outback and Remote (ROAR) conference. Our conferences, which have large attendances and involve interstate travel of delegates, present a high risk of COVID-19 transmission to paramedics. These events also have a bigger financial impact on delegates (flights / accommodation) and on the College (loss of substantial deposits) if they are cancelled closer to the event date.
The College is monitoring state level guidance in relation to our local events and will continue to plan and hold these events where appropriate.
Local level events
Event attendance
In line with Australian Government advice; we advise that members, event attendees and staff do not attend College events if, on the day of the event:
As a further precaution, we also ask members and event attendees to refrain from attending a College event if you have left or transited through, mainland China, Italy, Iran, South Korea or Japan in the 14-day period leading up to the event.
Note: In relation to events with an attendance fee, the College will refund the ticket price to anyone unable to attend due to following the above advice.
Event procedures
The College will be instigating social distancing and good hygiene practices at our events based on WHO advice. We expect attendees to:
At College events where food or drink is provided, we will be instigating individual drinks, meal or snack packs to reduce the risk of transmission for attendees. For shorter education events (under three hours), if suitable food options are not available or reasonably priced, then no food may be provided.
We will endeavour to live-stream and record as many of our events as possible and make them available online for members.
Changes to this advice
The College acknowledges that the situation with COVID-19 is rapidly changing and we will be following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and governments. If the official advice changes, our local events may need to be cancelled at short notice. In the case of a cancelled event, the College will refund the ticket price to all registrants.