During an emergency, the Victorian Department of Health has a number of responsibilities as outlined in the State Emergency Management Plan.

The Plan covers a wide range of events, including fire, flood, heatwaves, epidemic, wide-scale food poisoning, and train or plane accident.

To support the Plan, Primary Health Networks assist with preparedness, response, and recovery, so that local communities have the best primary health available following an emergency.

SEMPHN is updating its list of primary health professionals, general practices, and pharmacies willing to respond in an emergency. 

Examples of primary health emergency responses:

• Taking on additional patients for a short period of time.
• Staffing a field clinic where local infrastructure is not available.
• Caring for people affected by an emergency either locally or, if required, further afield.

In the event of an emergency, SEMPHN may send out an initial SMS message to participants asking for a response, so we know the potential capacity of the regional response.

Depending on the context of the emergency, the SMS will be sent across the catchment or within a localised area. The work is most likely to be volunteer-based.

Information gathered will be recorded in a secure, limited-access area of our database for the purposes of the emergency response only and you can opt out at any time by contacting us.

If you would like to participate, fill out this form to register.