May 3, 2017 

Last week a report titled “Review of response to the thunderstorm asthma event of 21–22 November 2016” was released by the Inspector-General for Emergency Management on the Victorian thunderstorm asthma event in November 2016, which is believed to have resulted in nine deaths. ASCIA contributed to this report, which contains 25 findings and 16 recommendations.

The Victorian government has announced a $15.56 million funding package for recommendations from this report, that include:

• Research to improve understanding and treatment of epidemic thunderstorm asthma

• Education and engagement campaigns to assist communities prepare for and respond to epidemic thunderstorm asthma

• Increased monitoring and analytics of pollen

• Real time monitoring of data sources including emergency departments

• Emergency management training for hospitals and health workers

To access the full report go here. 

Another report was released last week on the assessment of health impacts due to the November 2016 thunderstorm asthma event in Victoria.
To access this report go to https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/emergencies/thunderstorm-asthma-event/response

Information on thunderstorm asthma on the ASCIA website was updated in December 2016 and is available at www.allergy.org.au/patients/asthma-and-allergy/thunderstorm-asthma