La Trobe University rural health academic Associate Professor Erin Smith was one of the recipients, receiving access to a national CEF support network.
Established in honour of former Deputy Prime Minister and CEF founding patron Tim Fischer, the fellowship backs people with the vision, passion and practical ideas to create meaningful opportunities for rural and regional communities.
Professor Smith will use her fellowship to develop Rural Ready: Preparing the Next Generation of Rural Health Professionals for Disasters, an innovative education project designed to better prepare paramedicine, nursing and allied health students to respond to disasters and major emergencies in rural and regional communities.
Head of the Department of Rural Allied Health at La Trobe University, Prof Smith has more than 25 years of experience across higher education, research, disaster health and rural workforce development. Her work has focused extensively on improving health, wellbeing and resilience in rural and regional communities.
Her project will expand an existing award-winning, game-based, mass-casualty simulation into additional immersive rural disaster scenarios, including an industrial mass-casualty incident and a severe weather event affecting a rural hospital.
Students will be able to practice critical decision-making, communication, leadership, teamwork and disaster management in realistic but psychologically safe learning environments before they enter the workforce.
“By giving students the opportunity to experience realistic disaster scenarios before they enter the workforce, we can help build their confidence, strengthen teamwork across health disciplines and better prepare them to support rural communities when they need it most,” Prof Smith said.
