{"id":233240,"date":"2025-10-22T19:48:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233240\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:48:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:48:19","slug":"virtual-emergency-department-a-lifeline-for-patients-in-regional-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/233240\/","title":{"rendered":"Virtual emergency department a lifeline for patients in regional areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

When seven-year-old Jaxx Atkinson woke one August night struggling to breathe, his mother Brooke knew he needed help fast.<\/p>\n

She called triple-0 and paramedics arrived and quickly stabilised her son.<\/p>\n

But for a moment, it was every parent’s worst nightmare.<\/p>\n

“He was really freaking himself out because he couldn’t get a breath in,” Ms Atkinson said.<\/p>\n

The paramedics determined Jaxx did not need to go to hospital, but should see a doctor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That meant a 20-minute drive from the family’s Newborough home to the local hospital in Traralgon, Gippsland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With another young child asleep in the next room, a long emergency department wait was not appealing.<\/p>\n

So when the Ambulance Victoria paramedic showed Ms Atkinson the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department service she could access from home, it was a relief.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“I didn’t think [Jaxx] would go in an ambulance by himself, and I’ve got [other son] Zavier here too,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We opted for the virtual ED \u2026 it was so much easier than sitting in a waiting room.”<\/p>\n

Online assistance<\/p>\n

The Virtual Emergency Department is an online service run by Melbourne’s Northern Health.<\/p>\n

It connects patients in remote areas with doctors, and is designed to triage patients with non-life threatening conditions.<\/p>\n

The free service is available at all hours, and can be used by paramedics and the public.<\/p>\n

\"Picture<\/p>\n

Brooke, Jaxx and Zavier Atkinson reunite with paramedic Jamik Chauchan.\u00a0 (ABC Gippsland: Madeleine Stuchbery)<\/p>\n

Jamik Chauchan was one of the paramedics who treated Jaxx.<\/p>\n

He showed Ms Atkinson the virtual emergency department before being called to another job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Amanda Burnside was the doctor who treated Jaxx remotely.<\/p>\n

She said the virtual emergency resource worked as a lifeline for patients late at night or early in the morning, especially for parents with other children at home.<\/p>\n

“I know in the Gippsland region, access to GPs is quite tricky<\/a>, there are often long wait times,” Dr Burnside said.<\/p>\n

“We’re kind of covering that gap and helping out those local resources to take the pressure off a little bit.”<\/p>\n

Ambulance Victoria director regional and clinical operations for Gippsland, Ross Salathiel, said the virtual ED helped provide timely care to patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“By using [the service], it helps keep our ambulances ready and available for the sickest patients, particularly those with life-threatening conditions,” Mr Salathiel said.<\/p>\n

The tyranny of distance<\/p>\n

National Rural Health Alliance chief executive Susi Tegen said about 30 per cent of Australians lived in rural, remote and regional areas and experienced inequity in health funding.<\/p>\n

“For communities and areas like Bairnsdale [three hours east of Melbourne], the underspend on health, medical, disability and aging care access is up to $4,000 per person per annum less,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Susi<\/p>\n

Susi Tegen says digital technology can help bridge rural healthcare gaps, but greater investment in the regions is needed. (Supplied: National Rural Health Alliance)<\/p>\n

Data from 2023-24 shows people living regionally are 36.3 per cent more likely to face long wait times to access a GP appointment, while 46 per cent of patients nationwide waited more than 24 hours for urgent medical care.<\/p>\n

Ms Tegen said state and federal funding did not account for the tyranny of distance in rural healthcare<\/p>\n

She said while digital technology “has its place” in diagnosis and treatment, it was not a complete solution.<\/p>\n

“Digital healthcare solutions are a welcome efficiency and access tool, indeed enabler,” Ms Tegen said.<\/p>\n

“However, [they are] not the only and best solution for the development and sustainability of our health and medical workforce, nor will it ensure equitable quality healthcare access for our rural populations.”<\/p>\n

\"Imagine<\/p>\n

Paramedic Jamik Chauchan is reunited with patient, Jaxx Atkinson.\u00a0 (ABC Gippsland: Madeleine Stuchbery)<\/p>\n

Dr Burnside said there was “room to grow” when it came to patient uptake of virtual clinics.<\/p>\n

“We’re more than happy to see more people,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We’re still growing by the day, and I think it was a pretty tough flu season this winter and we saw lots of people with influenza coming through.<\/p>\n

“We’re able to help to, assess them, and provide some treatment and keep them at home and hopefully out of the emergency department.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When seven-year-old Jaxx Atkinson woke one August night struggling to breathe, his mother Brooke knew he needed help…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[64,63,140116,137,500,140117,140114,140115,140113],"class_list":["post-233240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-emergency-department-app","tag-health","tag-healthcare","tag-how-to-get-help-from-a-doctor-at-home","tag-northern-health","tag-using-technology-to-access-healthcare","tag-virtual-emergency-department"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}