PLANNING AHEAD: Chris Davey will miss some aspects of working as emergency and disaster management co-ordinator for health for the South West, but is looking forward to retirement.
CHRIS Davey is hanging up her hat as emergency and disaster management co-ordinator for health for the South West.
Since 2007, Chris has lectured around WA to help people in the health industry deal with major incidents.
Experienced in emergency nursing, she first thought of doing such a job after the 1996 Gracetown cliff tragedy.
“People were well-meaning, but nobody knew exactly what to do,” she said.
She wanted to train people to be confident and competent in major emergency situations, using easy to understand terms.
For years she taught people in Broome, Port Hedland, the Mid-West, and the Wheatbelt how to deal with multiple-casualty situations.
This training was successfully put into practice during the November 2011 fires in Margaret River, when fire evacuations were carried out at the hospital.
On Thursday Chris had a lunch with friends and colleagues at the Margaret River Hotel to mark her retirement from the role, aiming to spend more time with her children.
“I took long service leave and didn’t want to stop!” she said.
She will still work casually at Margaret River District Hospital as a nurse.
“I’m not good at saying no,” she said.
“(But) it will be so lovely to spend time with the kids, I’m really happy about that.”