The inaugural Primary Care Conference 2024, was hosted in May in Sandy Bay, Tasmania. This conference served as a platform for delegates to enhance their skills and contribute to the evolving landscape of primary care through valuable insights, thought-provoking presenters, and collaborative discussions.

Conference theme - Seamless synergy: Advancing paramedicine integration in healthcare. PCC24's theme emphasises the critical role of collaboration in transforming and advancing paramedicine. Positioned at the intersection of innovation, this conference encourages participants to explore the nuances of seamless teamwork, fostering an environment where integration within healthcare is paramount

Whether you're a Community Paramedic, Paramedic Practitioner, Extended Care Paramedic, or simply curious about expanding your knowledge in primary care, we strongly encourage watching all recordings from this conference.

What’s happening internationally in this space?

In this session we hear from experienced clinicians who have worked around the world in the area of Primary Care. Presenters will speak for 5 minutes each, followed by a panel discussion.

Presented by: Fraser Watson, Paul J Reeves, Jen Bolster and Dr Brendan Shannon

Biography: Fraser Watson

Fraser has had an extensive career in paramedicine in Aotearoa/New Zealand over the last 30 years. This has involved most flavours of generalist and specialist paramedic practice with a more recent focus on clinical support and education, development of the ECP model of specialist practice and ECP clinical practice guidelines. Fraser has interests in low-acuity and community based models of paramedicine, phone triage, guideline development and implementation, event paramedicine, disaster recovery, palliative and end-of life care, quantitative research, and equitable access to and outcomes from paramedic services

Biography: Paul J Reeves

Paul Reeves (UK) and has worked in EMS for the past 30 years, beginning as a Paramedic in the NHS. He’s operated as a HEMS and Flight Intensive Care Paramedic (ICP) for 23 years, and as a Tactical Paramedic (UK Police) before then accepting a decade of roles internationally operating in Afghanistan, Iraq, Africa, SE Asia, and the Pacific. Paul was one of the UK’s early Emergency Care Practitioners, and adapted these skills to his international work. In 2015 Paul moved to Alice Springs (ICP) for 4 ½ years before spending a year in Broome, WA as an ICP SAR Rescue-Swimmer. In 2020 he moved to Darwin where he established Charles Darwin University’s Bachelor of Paramedicine. Paul currently works full-time for NT Department of Health as Principal Advisor for Prehospital Care and is guiding the development of Paramedicine in the Territory. He continues to lecture part-time and work clinically on Darwin’s Critical Response Unit.

Biography: Jen Bolster

Jen is the Director of Clinical Services at Ambulance Tasmania, working alongside an incredible leadership team across the state to enhance and support the practice of paramedics across Tasmania. Jen’s previous experience is as an Advanced Care Paramedic and Paramedic Practice Leader (Manager) with BC Emergency Health Services, as an Army Medical Technician with the Canadian Armed Forces, and as a sessional instructor with BC’s two primary paramedic education institutes. Her interest in enhancing the out-of-hospital care experience for people who use drugs started during her tenure as a frontline paramedic working on Vancouver’s downtown east side, an area within Canada being decimated by a highly contaminated supply of drugs. This interest was honed during her time as a clinical manager at BCEHS, where she developed several new alternative conveyance and referral pathways for people who do not wish to be conveyed to the ED following a toxic drug event. Jen’s interests led her to completing a honours degree with Monash where she investigated the paramedic role in caring for people who use drugs, where the engagement and representation of people who have lived experience of drug use was identified as a concerning gap. Her area of research focus lies within enhancing systemic approaches to the patient/provider interface by enhancing and promoting the utilisation of person-centered, patient and provider-informed, and holistic performance metrics. Jen’s PhD will focus on shifting organizational performance metrics and values to ones that better represent long-term outcomes, and patient satisfaction of care, with special attention to marginalised populations.

Biography: Dr Brendan Shannon

Brendan is head of Postgraduate Programs in the Department of Paramedicine at Monash University and a member of The Australasian College of Paramedicine Community Paramedicine working group. A registered paramedic with more than a decade of clinical experience, Brendan is passionate about refining healthcare models to ensure underserved communities receive requisite care and support. He is known for innovating new education programs and paramedicine models of care and career pathways including as the education lead for the Victorian Paramedic Practitioner program.

Conference MC: Adj Assoc. Professor Michelle Murphy, Advocacy & Government Relations Lead, Australasian College of Paramedicine and National Manager, Integrated Care Pathways, ForHealth