A novel COVID-19 program, delivering vaccines throughout rural and remote Australia.

Background: The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia (RFDS) established a unique SARS-CoV-2 vaccination program for vaccinating Australians that live in rural and remote areas. This paper describes the preparation and response phases of the RFDS response. Methods: This study includes vaccinations conducted by the RFDS from 01 January 2021 until 31 December 2021 when vaccines were mandatory for work and social activities. Prior to each clinic, we conducted community consultation to determine site requirements, patient characteristics, expected vaccination numbers, and community transmission rates. Findings: Ninety-five organizations requested support. The majority (n = 60; 63.2%) came from Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organizations. Following consultation, 360 communities were approved for support. Actual vaccinations exceeded expectations (n = 70,827 vs. 49,407), with a concordance correlation coefficient of 0.88 (95% CI, 0.83, 0.93). Areas that reported healthcare workforce shortages during the preparation phase had the highest population proportion difference between expected and actual vaccinations. Areas that reported high vaccine hesitancy during the preparation phase had fewer than expected vaccines. There was a noticeable increase in vaccination rates in line with community outbreaks and positive polymerase chain reaction cases [r (41) = 0.35, p = 0.021]. Engagement with community leaders prior to clinic deployment was essential to provide a tailored response based on community expectations.

Indigenous Australians have a greater prevalence of heart, stroke, and vascular disease, are younger at death, with higher hospitalisation and more aeromedical retrievals from remote regions.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to determine whether heart, stroke, and vascular disease (HSVD) prevalence and emergency primary evacuation (EPE), hospitalisation, and mortality differ by patient characteristics. METHODS: An Australian-wide incidence population based study, with prospective data collected form the 1 July 2019 to the 30 October 2020. FINDINGS: Indigenous Australians reported significantly higher prevalence of HSVD at 229.0 per-1000 as compared to 152.0 per-1000 non-Indigenous Australians: risk ratio 1.5 (95% CI 1.2-1.8). 583 remote patients received an EPE for HSVD, consisting of 388 (66.6%; 95% CI: 62.6-70.4) males and 195 (33.0%; 95% CI: 29.6-37.4) females. There were 289 (49.6%; 95% CI 45.4- 53.7) patients who identified as Indigenous, and 294 (50.4%; 95% CI 46.3- 54.6) as non-Indigenous. The mean Indigenous age during EPE was 48.0 (95% CI 45.9-50.1) years old, significantly lower than the non-Indigenous mean age of 55.6 (95% CI 53.8-57.4). Indigenous patients hospitalised for HSVD were younger, the majority younger than 65 years (n=21175; 73.7% 95% CI 73.2-74.2) as compared to non-Indigenous patients (n= 357654; 33.1% 95% CI 33.0-33.15). When adjusted for HSVD prevalence, remote Indigenous patients had a higher hospitalisation rate as compared to non-remote Indigenous patients (rate ratio: 1.6; 95% CI 1.3-2.0) and remote non-Indigenous patients (rate ratio: 1.2; 95% CI 1.0-1.5). More Indigenous patients died of HSVD before the age of 65 years (n=1875; 56.5% 95% CI 54.8-58.2) as compared to non-Indigenous patients (n= 16161; 10.6% 95% CI 10.45-10.8). INTERPRETATION: Indigenous Australians have a higher prevalence, and younger age during EPE, and hospitalisation for HSVD than non-Indigenous Australians. FUNDING: This is a self/internally-funded study, with the lead organisation being the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) of Australia. For the duration of the study period, the RFDS provided in-kind support including one full-time equivalent (FTE) and resources (office space, computer, research software, and office equipment). There was no external funding source that had a role in study design or data analysis or interpretation.

Aeromedical retrieval diagnostic trends during a period of Coronavirus 2019 lockdown.

BACKGROUND: Little is known on the trends of aeromedical retrieval (AR) during social isolation. AIM: To compare the pre, lockdown, and post-lockdown AR patient characteristics during a period of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) social isolation. METHODS: An observational study with retrospective data collection, consisting of AR between 26 January and 23 June 2020. RESULTS: There were 16 981 AR consisting of 1983 (11.7%) primary evacuations and 14 998 (88.3%) inter-hospital transfers, with a population median age of 52 years (interquartile range 29.0-69.0), with 49.0% (n = 8283) of the cohort being male and 38.0% (n = 6399) being female. There were six confirmed and 230 suspected cases of COVID-19, with the majority of cases (n = 134; 58.3%) in the social isolation period. As compared to pre-restriction, the odds of retrieval for the restriction and post-restriction period differed across time between the major diagnostic groups. This included, an increase in cardiovascular retrieval for both restriction and post-restriction periods (odds ratio (OR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.24 and OR 1.18 95%, CI 1.08-1.30 respectively), increases in neoplasm in the post restriction period (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.04-1.64) and increases for congenital conditions in the restriction period (OR 2.56, 95% CI 1.39-4.71). Cardiovascular and congenital conditions had increased rates of priority 1 patients in the restriction and post restriction periods. There was a decrease in endocrine and metabolic disease retrievals in the restriction period (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.53-0.98). There were lower odds during the post-restriction period for retrievals of the respiratory system (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.93), and disease of the skin (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.6-1.0). Distribution between the 2019 and 2020 time periods differed (P < 0.05), with the lockdown period resulting in a significant reduction in activity. CONCLUSION: The lockdown period resulted in increased AR rates of circulatory and congenital conditions.

Aeromedical Retrieval for Stroke in Australia.

INTRODUCTION: Rural, remote, and Indigenous stroke patients have worse stroke outcomes than urban Australians. This may be due to lack of timely access to expert facilities. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to describe the characteristics of patients who underwent aeromedical retrieval for stroke, estimate transfer times, and investigate if flight paths corresponded with the locations of stroke units (SUs) throughout Australia. METHODS: Prospective review of routinely collected Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) data. Patients who underwent an RFDS aeromedical retrieval for stroke, July 2014-June 2018 (ICD-10 codes: I60-I69), were included. To define the locations of SUs throughout Australia, we accessed data from the 2017 National Stroke Audit. The main outcome measures included determining the characteristics of patients with an in-flight diagnosis of stroke, their subsequent pickup and transfer locations, and corresponding SU and imaging capacity. RESULTS: The RFDS conducted 1,773 stroke aeromedical retrievals, consisting of 1,028 (58%) male and 1,481 (83.5%) non-Indigenous and 292 (16.5%) Indigenous patients. Indigenous patients were a decade younger, 56.0 (interquartile range [IQR] 45.0-64.0), than non-Indigenous patients, 66.0 (IQR 54.0-76.0). The most common diagnosis was "stroke not specified," reflecting retrieval locations without imaging capability. The estimated median time for aeromedical retrieval was 238 min (95% confidence interval: 231-244). Patients were more likely to be transferred to an area with SU and imaging capability (both p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Stroke patients living in rural areas were younger than those living in major cities (75 years, Stroke Audit Data), with aeromedically retrieved Indigenous patients being a decade younger than non-Indigenous patients. The current transfer times are largely outside the time windows for reperfusion methods. Future research should aim to facilitate more timely diagnosis and treatment of stroke.

Microresonator Brillouin laser stabilization using a microfabricated rubidium cell.

We frequency stabilize the output of a miniature stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) laser to rubidium atoms in a microfabricated cell to realize a laser system with frequency stability at the 10-11 level over seven decades in averaging time. In addition, our system has the advantages of robustness, low cost and the potential for integration that would lead to still further miniaturization. The SBS laser operating at 1560 nm exhibits a spectral linewidth of 820 Hz, but its frequency drifts over a few MHz on the 1 hour timescale. By locking the second harmonic of the SBS laser to the Rb reference, we reduce this drift by a factor of 103 to the level of a few kHz over the course of an hour. For our combined SBS and Rb laser system, we measure a frequency noise of 4 × 104 Hz2/Hz at 10 Hz offset frequency which rapidly rolls off to a level of 0.2 Hz2/Hz at 100 kHz offset. The corresponding Allan deviation is ≤2 × 10-11 for averaging times spanning 10-4 to 103 s. By optically dividing the signal of the laser down to microwave frequencies, we generate an RF signal at 2 GHz with phase noise at the level of -76 dBc/Hz and -140 dBc/Hz at offset frequencies of 10 Hz and 10 kHz, respectively.