If the first casualty of the war on drugs was truth, then Jessamine Soderstrom is a peace maker. As an emergency toxicologist on the front lines, she observed that people suffering ill-effects of illicit drugs received inferior treatment to those who had overdosed on legal drugs. This difference can be boiled down to one key factor: information. When doctors do not know what they are dealing with, they do not know how best to respond. An Emergency Physician and Clinical Toxicologist at Royal Perth Hospital, Jessamine Soderstrom is developing a national early warning system for identifying illicit drugs causing harm. This multi-agency collaboration uses a data-driven model of care. It reduces harm by giving communities and emergency personnel the information they need to best manage and mitigate drug emergencies. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
Emergency Physician and Clinical Toxicologist at Royal Perth Hospital, Jessamine seeks to foster relationships between the Poisons Centre, sentinel hospitals and forensics laboratories around the country to develop an early warning system around drugs of abuse.
