Disaster First Aid: Self-Sufficiency and Innovation in the Field

Taskforce Kiwi is a veteran-led, volunteer disaster relief charity that deploys in the recovery phase of disasters in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas.

In this webinar, Dr Malin Zachau (Medical Director, Taskforce Kiwi) and Campbell Doak (Registered Paramedic) will share the practical, innovative approaches Taskforce Kiwi has developed to ensure safe and effective deployments.

Taskforce Kiwi’s core activities are assisting in the physical clean-up operations. However, so as not to be a burden to the disaster affected community, it is important to be self-sufficient in first aid and medical provisions as far as is practicable.

This webinar will explore why the Disaster First Aid course curriculum was created and how Chainsaw Massive bleeding management has been delivered via “just in time” training. How this training is backed up with Telehealth consults and all the challenges this has posed will also be discussed.

One of the challenges in deploying is understanding the potential emergency medical skills needed. To assist this, they have created an app that considers the activities, hazards and risks of the deployment to identify the skill level required to maximise the skills of their volunteer pool.

Finally, if there is time, they will also show and discuss the bespoke first aid kits purchased with Lottery grant funding and the logic behind equipment and supplies selection.