Week 1 Reflections with Birthday Surprises
It has been a little over a week since we all landed in Brisbane and I’m starting to get the flow of things. I have finally overcome jetlag and am no longer waking up at 3am. Our work days mimic that of a normal work schedule: leave for RFDS at 8am and get back at 5:30pm. The team’s whatsapp group is active and we share daily happenings with each other.
The first week with Royal Flying Doctor Service has been eye opening as we are continuously learning the huge impact this organization delivers. The population of people that live in rural and remote Australia is 8 million and RFDS is committed to helping provide health care across the country.
The CSC team reviewed documents before flying into Australia, but pieces started connecting when we began talking to people during week one including clinicians, researchers and leaders. RFDS is divided geographically by the different states and territories of Australia and each section has their own priorities and needs based on a variety of factors including size, connectivity, and resources.
After several interviews and discussions over the first five days, we ended the week with interactive demos. RFDS Queensland brought in a demo Medical Chest with empty medicine contents. These chests are all over rural and remote Australia to provide health care needs to the communities including medicine and first aid items. There are over 2k chests throughout the country and are managed by a designated chest holder / custodian. The container is heavy and strong because it is built to be long lasting against external elements like wild animals or weather. Inside the lid is a reference guide showing the location for each item in the chest so that items are easily found.
Telehealth is one type of RFDS service and situations arise where the use of the Medical Chest is needed. For example, a patient who has done a video conference with a doctor may be prescribed to take a specific medicine. That patient will be directed to the closest physical Medical Chest and he/she will go to the point person responsible for the chest, then retrieve and take the medicine. While this is happening, the doctor may be on the phone helping direct the patient on what to do.
After seeing the Medical Chest, the IBM RFDS team went to the public expo for the World of Drones Congress to explore drone technology for telehealth. It was interesting to see the plays out there for drones.
My birthday happened during the first week in Brisbane. I shared this with the team so that people would be open to grab an after work drink. Since we had only met each other in person for a couple days, I wanted to have a casual hangout; however, the team had other ideas to celebrate. In the morning, I was greeted with hugs from my teammates at breakfast. My IBM RFDS team gave me flowers on the client site at lunch and when I got back to the hotel, I also saw a surprise bouquet delivered from loved ones back in the US!
The team was invited to a BBQ in Kangaroo Point (a neighborhood in Bribane) that has gorgeous views of the city skyline. Although not meant to be a birthday party, there were more surprises and gifts. A lot of unexpected effort was done to celebrate my birthday and I truly felt special, loved, and thankful that CSC brought the team together.
Originally published at medium.com on August 15, 2018.
