 Health Services and Emergencies Health Services Australia has excellent health care. To stay healthy, it is important to eat healthy food, exercise regularly and get to know how to use the health system. Ask a settlement service provider to tell you about Medicare, GP doctors, emergency triple zero, hospitals, healthcare cards, dentists and other support services. You will have had a health check before you came to Australia. Now you are here, you and your family should make an appointment to see a doctor again, even if you don't feel sick. This will make sure you are healthy. Some illnesses such as malaria and tuberculosis are unusual in Australia and can be treated. It is important that you seek this treatment. Ask a settlement service provider to help you find a local doctor and if you can't speak English well, ask for help to make an appointment. Making a doctor's appointment. Hello, how are you today? I'm fine. Good, what can I do for you? I'd like to make an appointment to see the doctor, please. In Australia, you have to make an appointment to see a doctor. Doctors can be very busy so it can take some time to get an appointment. You must always be on time for your appointment. Would you like to see any doctor in particular? The appointment is for my wife and it should feel better to see a women doctor. Okay, we have a female doctor, Dr. Jordan. Would you like me to make an appointment to see her? Yes, my wife doesn't speak English well. Okay, we can organise a telephone interpreter. If you don't speak English well, you should ask about the government's translating and interpreting service. This service is free and confidential. It is important that you ask for an interpreter when you make your appointment. You can request a male or female interpreter. This service can help you communicate with your doctor. Do you have any medical documentation? Yes, we have some medical documents. Should we bring these with us? Yes. Do you have a medical card? Yes, we do. Don't be afraid to talk about your health with your doctor. It's okay to say you are sick. You will not be sent back to Africa. You are a permanent resident in Australia, so you will be looked after. All of your meetings with your doctor are confidential. Medicare In Australia, the government helps you pay for some of your medical costs. This is done through Medicare. You should ask your settlement service provider about getting a Medicare card as soon as possible. And remember, it is important that you carry it with you at all times. Some doctors bulk bill. This means Medicare will pay for your doctor's visit. You won't have to pay anything. Other doctors will ask you to pay after your appointment. If you pay, take your receipt to a Medicare office and they will refund some of your payment. You might be able to get additional discounts with a healthcare card. Healthcare cards can give you discounts for some health services and medicines and may give you discounts on other things like transport. Ask about healthcare cards at your central link office. Medication Your doctor will tell you what medicine you need to take and give you a prescription. You will then need to take this prescription to a pharmacy to buy your medicine. It is very important that you take the medicine your doctor prescribes. Ask for help to understand how much medicine to take and when to take it. Remember never to give your medicine to anyone else in your family and always keep medicine away from children. Don't use medicine that is old or has passed its expiry date. When you go to the doctor, make sure you take your medical documents, your Medicare card and your healthcare card and ask about immunizations for your family. Emergency triple zero. If there is an accident or someone is seriously ill, you should either go straight to the hospital or call triple zero and ask for medical help. Triple zero is the emergency telephone number across Australia for police, fire and ambulance. Ambulance hurry up! You need to give them your address and tell them what's wrong. If you use a landline telephone, the emergency service can find you by computer. She's very ill. She's breathing. The ambulance will take you to the hospital if you need more help. Did you call the ambulance? Yeah, they're coming. They're coming? Yeah. Counseling. It is normal for people who have experiences of war, conflict and displacement to be stressed or feel other emotions such as unhappiness and depression. Often in the new country of settlement, people continue to have bad memories. They may be unable to sleep or they may not be able to concentrate on the daily things which are important to them. Children can also remember bad experiences or be affected by family worries. They can show their stress by being too quiet or by being very angry. There are services which can help adults and their families deal with problems which come from too much stress and bad experiences of the past. These services employ professional staff who are counselors. The information you provide is private. The service is free. Turismihan is a trauma and torture counsellor. People who've been through a lot of torture and trauma in war often suffer the effects of torture and trauma and when they come to Australia, they have hopes that it will disappear because they're busy and they're trying to settle and they're learning English and they're moving on with life. I think the opportunity for people to come and talk about how they're feeling, just to share their sadness a little bit, just to sit with someone and have someone understand them a bit and to be thinking about them can make an immense difference. Interpreters are available and some services employ staff who are from the same background as you. If you would like the assistance of such a service, tell your settlement service provider or doctor and they can assist you with making contact. Staying healthy. Did you know? Did you know that the different foods we eat can be divided into groups? To stay healthy, you need to eat more food from some groups and less from others. This is called having a balanced diet. Dr. Michel Kelso is a general practitioner or GP. GPs are family doctors. There's some simple things people can do to stay healthy. It's important to try and get some exercise and that can be done by playing sport or just going for a walk outside and it's also a good way to meet new people and just to keep healthy. It's also important for particularly women and small children to have enough dairy products and milk and cheese and yogurt. Avoid drinking too much alcohol. Excessive alcohol use is expensive and can affect many things like your health, family relationships and your job. Avoid smoking and say no to drugs. You should also look after your personal hygiene. Staying clean and healthy is important for everyone's well-being. There are simple ways to do this such as taking a shower once a day and washing your hands regularly with soap. In Australia, most people wear deodorant and wash their clothes regularly, which keeps them feeling and smelling fresh. It is also important to look after your teeth. You should brush your teeth every morning and night and visit the dentist regularly. Did you know? Did you know that there are lots of healthy things you can include in your children's lunchboxes to ensure they stay healthy and concentrated school?