The Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern Section (RFDSSE) doesn't have enough feet on the ground to get COVID-19 jabs into the arms of the growing number of people who want them in the west and across the state.
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RFDSSE Dubbo and Broken Hill staff are keen to see people able to administer the jab and also test for the virus added to its payroll as casual employees.
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They could include "immunisation-endorsed" registered nurses, paramedics, enrolled nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, enrolled nurses, doctors, and medical and nursing students who are at least in their third year of studies at university.
RFDSSE senior medical officer in primary care Dr Mary Beth MacIsaac is keen to utilise everyone who responds to the recruitment drive.
"If we had an overwhelming response, if we had 50 people tomorrow, we would put 10 extra teams on," she said.
"We are asked to do more and more, and we want to stand up and do more and more. We just need the people to be able to do it."
We are asked to do more and more, and we want to stand up and do more and more. We just need the people to be able to do it.
- RFDSSE senior medical officer in primary care Dr Mary Beth MacIsaac
The RFDSSE is testing and vaccinating residents in the Far West and Western NSW regions as well as other parts of the state.
It is using federally-sourced vaccines.
"About a month ago we were doing 500 (jabs) a week and now we are doing thousands a week across NSW," Dr MacIsaac said.
The Daily Liberal understands the RFDSSE workforce at Dubbo has been affected by staff having to self-isolate after becoming close contacts of infected patients.
Flight retrieval nurses at Dubbo and Broken Hill have been redeployed to vaccination teams.
Dr MacIsaac tells of pharmacists already delivering jabs as part of RFDSSE vaccination teams.
She says the work is "incredibly satisfying".
The RFDSSE doctor said successful respondents to the recruitment drive would be casual employees because "we don't anticipate the current demand for COVID vaccinations will last forever".
"But while the demand is there we really would like to immunise as many people as we can," she said.
Visit careers@rfdsse.org.au.
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