A Day in the Life a Koala Patient
Volunteer staff adjust to the habits of their patients; that includes collecting food, providing care, and handling the business of maintaining a hospital devoted solely to the care of koalas.
 6 am : The leaf collector gathers up his extendable cutting poles, hard hat, clippers, and heads off in the truck to search for a variety of fresh eucalypt species to feed the sick koalas. |
 7 am : The Team Leader arrives to open up the Hospital and prepare for the arrival of the volunteer team. The koalas begin to stir at the movement, then they settle once again. |
7.30 - 8am : Both the volunteer staff and the Supervisor arrive to start the days duties. The team leader allocates various yards to each volunteer to clean and change leaf. The volunteer administers a special milk formula to koalas that require it. The koalas become alert that “food” is on the way!! The volunteers take time out to talk to the many visitors about the koalas in the Hospital.
The Supervisor checks the status of the koalas from the day before, looking at leaf consumption, urine and faecal output over the last twenty four hours, and how they are faring.
Treatment of all the koalas begins. Medications are given, weights are taken where necessary, injuries are bathed and treated with all clinical data recorded on each individual koala’s chart. Blood samples, swabs or ultrasound work may be done to assist in diagnosis of disease or injuries. Occasional autopsy work is undertaken also.
If time permits, the morning shift will sit down for a brief cuppa, biscuit and chat before getting back to their duties.
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Where necessary a koala may be taken to the Veterinary Superintendents practice for X-rays or surgery, which is usually done late mornings.
Often the phone will ring for an urgent rescue of a koala hit by a motor vehicle or attacked by a dog. Other times a caller has observed a koala with diseased eyes or stained rump indicating chlamydial infection (wet bottom). Immediately the team leader or the supervisor will organize some of our trained personnel to go out and rescue the koala.
The koala is then brought to the Hospital for examination and assessment, and admitted as a patient either to be treated within the Intensive Care Unit or to be taken into a private home for more intensive 24 hour care. The team on shift on that day will prepare an ICU unit, placing fresh leaf in readiness for the patient.
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10.30 am – 12 pm : The morning shift has been completed, with all the koalas fed, new fresh leaf placed in containers, yards and units cleaned, and all koalas requiring treatment have been attended to. The morning shift head home.
The Supervisor attends to the necessary administrative paperwork, emails, report writing and data that assist in the running of the Hospital.
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2.30 pm : The afternoon team leader arrives to prepare the formulas and attend to any required treatments, prior to the afternoon team starting their shift. The volunteers arrive before 3.00 p.m. where they water the eucalypt leaf, re-fill the leaf containers with water, feed any formulas required, bring in the washing and tidy up.
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3 pm : The daily "walk and talk" programme commences, with a volunteer guide taking all visitors around the perimeter of the Hospital grounds, explaining the reasons for the koalas being in the Hospital, the history of the Hospital and answering any general questions.
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4.30 – 5pm : All the work in the Hospital is completed for the day, the phone is changed over to the night duty officer, the Hospital is locked and shut down for the night, and the staff go home.
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