Service offers medical advice and response
Community Health Support is unique in the Sydney Jewish community, with the comprehensive service it offers.
Community Health Support (CHS) is launching its First-Line Medical Service, which will be available 24 hours a day to attend to any medical emergency with response or advice.
Beginning initially with a concentrated area from Queens Park to Watsons Bay, there are plans to expand further to the North Shore and then to the areas surrounding Maroubra.
CHS executive director Jesse Lenn told The AJN that there are three possibilities when calling the hotline. The trained dispatches will walk through the process with the caller to decide which course of action is most appropriate.
“The first option is we can provide medical advice over the phone to help decide where to go next,” Lenn said.
“Next option is we can send out our healthcare professionals or advanced first responders and advise on next steps. The third option is we recognise through our triage process that this is quite significant and we will send our healthcare professionals or advanced first responders who are all equipped and trained in the community. We will also add triple zero into the same phone line, so you don’t have to hang up and call triple zero separately. You call us and get the best of both worlds.”
Currently CHS has just over 25 healthcare professionals or advanced first responders, all lifesaving equipment, and another 13 undergoing upskilling and training to join the network. The aim is to expand its network of volunteers to at least 200.
Lenn said there are a number of reasons why CHS is unique in the Sydney Jewish community, the first one being that it offers a comprehensive service.
“We do first aid for all community sites and synagogues, we do training for all community schools and organisations, and we provide event medical services at all community events,” Lenn said.
“We also accept volunteers regardless of their gender and religious observance, or any other characteristics. Because of that inclusivity, we’ve been able to engage really top doctors and paramedics in our community to be part of our medical advisory board, and we can be out there providing an advanced level of care.”
Lenn said what also makes CHS unique is its partnerships with other community organisations.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into building and collaborating with other community organisations,” he said.
“We have a memorandum of understanding with CSG and work closely with them, and we have relationships with JewishCare and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, as well as a number of other community organisations. It’s created a way for us to leverage existing infrastructure and resources in a highly efficient way.”
comments