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The bushfires of February 2009 in Victoria, Australia resulted in the deaths of 173 people and caused injuries to 414. Furthermore, > 2,030 houses and 3,500 structures were destroyed. The role and experience of nurses in this environment are not well understood, and little is known about the clinical and education background of nurses in this setting. This presentation will provide an overview of the bushfires and report on two research projects. The aims of these projects were to explore participant demographics and various aspects of nursing activities in the prehospital environment. These projects used volunteer nursing members of St John Ambulance Australia who responded to the Victorian fires. The first project used a retrospective, descriptive postal survey, and the second was descriptive and exploratory, using semi-structured interviews as a means of data collection. The survey highlighted that nurses had varying clinical and educational backgrounds. Males were overrepresented when compared to the national average of nurses. Most participants had taken disaster-related education, however, this varied in type and duration. Similarly, most had participated in training or mock disasters; however this usually was not related to bushfire emergencies. The qualitative findings identified two main themes having expansive roles and being prepared. These highlighted that nurses maintained a variety of roles, such as clinicians, emotional supporters, coordinators and problem solvers, and they were well prepared for these roles. This research provided insight into the characteristics and level of preparedness of nurses who responded to the 2009 Victorian bushfires in the prehospital environment. Additionally, it highlights the need for more structured education and training for nurse that is aligned with their role and deployment environment.

Emergency nurses have key roles in responding to healthcare disasters. Emergency nurses often complete postgraduate qualifications in their area of specialty to equip them with a breadth and depth of knowledge to respond to the challenges and complexities of emergency nursing care. However, little is known about the disaster preparedness of emergency nurses in Australia. More specifically, the educational preparedness and training for disaster nursing roles is not well understood. This purpose of this study is to describe the disaster content of Australian postgraduate tertiary emergency nursing courses as a means of better understanding emergency nurses' educational preparedness for disaster. An exploratory, descriptive approach was used to survey postgraduate tertiary emergency nursing course convenors. Data were collected from course convenors by structured telephone interview. Questions included: (1) nursing background; (2) demographics and disaster experience of course convenors; (3) course type, duration and mode of delivery; and (4) the type and amount of disaster content. Currently, 12 universities in Australia offer postgraduate courses specific to Emergency Nursing, ranging from Graduate Certificates to Masters Degree level. Of these universities, 10 participated in this research project. This presentation will report on the demographics of course convenors, including their disaster education and experience. However, the focus of the presentation will be on the review of the course content. Seven courses had some disaster content, while three had none. The disaster content in these courses varied in both content and duration. Three had learning objectives, and one had an assessment item related to disasters. Five had recent modifications relating to disaster content; this was in response to real-world events, such as terrorism and communicable diseases. This research highlights that the disaster content in Australian postgraduate emergency nursing courses varies. This finding supports the need for national consistency and supporting framework for disaster content in post-graduate courses. The 2009 Ben Morley Scholarship, a financial award sponsored by the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia, supported this research.