Emergency Care accessibility to rural and remote Australia
A/Prof Alan O’Connor is passionate about rural health. In fact, at the time of the interview he is on a seven hour drive from Adelaide to Broken Hill, where he's finishing his tenure as Director of Emergency Services at Broken Hill Hospital in order to take up a new position with the Royal Flying Doctors Service. It's a long drive, but he's full of energy. COVID border closures have prevented him from returning to the hospital since the end of September, and he's keen to get back out bush.
“I love working rurally, because the contribution you make to society is huge. You really do make a difference to rural communities. You’re giving back to society,” he says.
For the last two years, Dr O’Connor has been sharing his time between Broken Hill, and Adelaide, where he is SA Health’s Director of Emergency Medicine, Rural Support Service. But he has also been wearing another hat as a doctor with the online emergency support service, My Emergency Doctor.