The Health News – 08 June 2015
Overview:
• Five partygoers have been rushed to hospital, including one unconscious person, after taking the drug fantasy at a party on Queensland’s Stradbroke Island.
• A community Centre in Launceston’s northern suburbs is expanding its delivery of fruit and vegetables to vulnerable residents thanks to extra funding.
• Tasmanians with medical conditions requiring them to keep a certain temperature in their home can now receive a concession to help with power costs.
Health News on Health Professional Radio. Today is the 8th June 2015. Read by Rebecca Foster.
Five partygoers have been rushed to hospital, including one unconscious person, after taking the drug fantasy at a party on Queensland’s Stradbroke Island.
Initially revellers made a frantic call to emergency services just after 5pm on Sunday reporting all six people had lost consciousness.
Paramedics were told the group aged in their 20s had taken the illicit drug fantasy.
Five of those affected were taken from the island to Mermaid Beach for medical assistance on a private high-powered boat.
Paramedics took five people – including one unconscious person, two semi-conscious people and two conscious patients – to the Gold Coast University and Robina Hospitals.
A sixth person was being treated by paramedics on Stradbroke Island.
A community centre in Launceston’s northern suburbs is expanding its delivery of fruit and vegetables to vulnerable residents thanks to extra funding.
Residents can order boxes through the Northern Suburbs Community Centre with enough vegetables and fruit for a fortnight at a price cheaper than local supermarkets.
The produce is collected from local farmers and delivered to people’s homes by clients of the disability services organisation Life Without Barriers.
Michelle Robertson from Farm Fresh, who helps pack the boxes, said the contents varied depending on what was in season.
“In the summer time we do a lot of salad vegetables, lettuce tomatoes, whatever is in season, then in winter we switch to casserole foods, soups, whatever people can find that they can get the most value out of the dollar for,” she said.
The centre’s manager Denise Delphin said it was often difficult for local residents to access healthy food.
“Cost was one, access was another one and we have quite a few members of our community who have mobility issues,” she said.
“So once again transport could be an issue – actually getting to a place where you could get good quality fruit and vegetables.”
In 2013 the Australian Bureau of Statistics used census data to rank Rocherlea as Tasmania’s most disadvantaged suburb.
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Tasmanians with medical conditions requiring them to keep a certain temperature in their home can now receive a concession to help with power costs.
The concession is an expansion of the existing Medical Cooling concession and will be a fixed rate for each day, totalling $137 a year.
Health Minister Michael Ferguson said the Government decided to implement the concession after being approached by the Lupus Association.
Lupus is an autoimmunity disease that can affect the body’s ability to regulate its own temperature.
“I took that concern to the Treasurer and the Government has agreed that that should be extended, so we now have something broader which will be more suitable for a wider range of medical conditions that require extra energy,” he said.
Mr Ferguson said it was hard to estimate how many people would take advantage of the help.
“We do imagine that there’ll be a number of people who already have existing conditions that they’re aware of,” he said.
“Together with their doctor, we’ll be encouraging them to begin claiming the $137 concession on their annual power bills.
“It’s a contribution to what is a recognised extra cost of staying comfortable with a body that might have a thermostat which is a little bit out as a result of their medical condition.”
Funding for the program was in last month’s state budget.
The concession can be applied for through Aurora Energy.
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