Mine nurse named Local Hero for community care

Ravenswood Gold nurse Greg Clark has been named as a Local Hero Award winner for his dedication to the health and wellbeing of the Ravenswood community. He was among nine 2020 Local Hero winners announced by the Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section), recognising Queenslanders who have donated time and energy to keep the Flying Doctor in the air, or assisted in an emergency. The RFDS said Mr Clark and fellow Ravenswood Gold nurse Vanessa De Landelles were regularly called upon to go above their call of duty as the mine’s dedicated nurses to deliver healthcare to the people of Ravenswood. RFDS doctor Yvonne Doveren said having the nurses at Ravenswood was a great support to the medical staff flying in to care for the community. “As we only hold one clinic a month in Ravenswood it is a great relief to our doctors that there are qualified nurses who are happy to follow up with patients and keep us up to date with any concerns while we are not here,” she said. “The Ravenswood community is so fortunate to have the Ravenswood Gold nurses – they really do go above and beyond both to treat community members and to assist RFDS in holding clinics in town." Ravenswood residents Teri King and Gai Murch. For resident Teri King it was a matter of life or death when she collapsed from heart problems while out walking with her husband one morning in 2018. “The nurses were with me so quickly and looked after me while organising the evacuation. If it wasn’t for them, I believe I would have died – they saved my life,” she said. “Nothing is too much trouble for them – you can really talk to the nurses and they go out of their way to help. When I came home from hospital after my open-heart surgery one of the nurses visited me every morning to do my dressing and to check on how I was that day – you couldn’t wish for a better group of people.” Teri’s sister Gai Murch likewise can’t speak highly enough of the nurses after a recent fall saw her visiting the mine clinic early one morning. “I went straight out there, and they fixed me up – I had hit my head and they glued the wound shut and saved me a trip to Townsville. They are all fantastic – we love them, they respect the people from town even though we’re not working out there at the mine and they will come to you when you need them to. I can’t praise them enough,” she said. Ravenswood Gold says the work of the nurses is complemented by the mine's Emergency Response Team members, whose training is focused not only on responding to incidents on site but to potentially life-threating situations within the community including car and motorbike accidents, medical emergencies and typical children’s injuries such as allergies and broken bones. Other RFDS Local Hero Award winners include: Mount Isa region – Queensland Country Women’s Association Gregory Branch, Rockhampton region - Rockhampton RFDS Volunteer Auxiliary, Roma region - Trent and Elizabeth Challenger, Longreach region – Bede Little, Charleville region – Sue McDonald, Cairns region – James Telford, Bundaberg region – Rotary Club of Bundaberg, Brisbane region – Jane Milward. Full details HERE RFDS (Queensland Section) chief executive officer Meredith Staib congratulated Mr Clark on winning the 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award for the Townsville region. “The calibre of nominations was incredibly high. Such was the difficulty in determining just nine regional winners, we acknowledged five other nominees with special awards honouring their contribution,” she said. The included Dr Myint Soe from Collinsville Hospital, who was recognised for his dedication to healthcare with the Spirit of John Flynn Award. Ms Staib said Queenslanders were now encouraged to vote for the overall 2020 RFDS Local Hero Award winner for Queensland, who would win a $7500 grant to give back to their community. Vote for the 2020 Queensland RFDS Local Hero by visiting www.rfdslocalhero.com.au/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?vccsQH_NjhCc&featureemb_logo

Mine nurse named Local Hero for community care

Industry Queensland

Related News

Thiess clocks up 90 years of operations

Nanogenerator consumes CO2 for sustainable power

Trophy honour as gold mine heads for finish line

Get access to breaking mining news, now.