Presented by Emily Andrew

On November 21, 2016, Melbourne and parts of wider Victoria, experienced the world’s largest Thunderstorm Asthma event. Thunderstorm Asthma is a rare phenomenon which is believed to occur when a source of allergen, typically pollen, and appropriate weather conditions, such as a thunderstorm, triggers severe asthma in susceptible people in the vicinity.

This presentation will describe the influence of the Thunderstorm Asthma emergency on ambulance demand in Victoria, and also describe the patients who were most affected by the event.

Biography:

Emily has worked as the Research Governance Manager in the Centre for Research & Evaluation at Ambulance Victoria for 4 years. In her role, she has participated as an investigator on numerous research projects in the field of pre-hospital emergency care. She has an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science, a Master’s degree in Biostatistics, and is currently undertaking her PhD through Monash University in the field of ambulance demand and performance.