New Heart of Australia’s HEART 5 mobile black lung health screener

Miners will have more protection from debilitating lung diseases when a world-first mobile health unit trawls through the region’s coal fields to screen for black lung and other mine dust diseases.

Central Queensland’s mine and quarry workers will be at the forefront of a healthcare revolution when a world-first mobile health unit trawls through the region’s coal fields to screen for black lung and other mine dust diseases.

The state-of-the-art and Queensland-built HEART 5 vehicle has left Brisbane and will arrive in Collinsville and Mackay next week.

Resources Minister Scott Stewart said HEART 5 was a revolutionary piece of technology that would deliver high quality respiratory health screenings to workers in regional and remote parts of the state.

“This means workers won’t have to travel as far to access highly specialised services, ensuring earlier detection and intervention in cases of mine dust lung diseases like black lung and silicosis,” he said.

Developed between the state government and Heart of Australia, the unit contains an X-ray machine and a world-first battery-powered high-resolution CT scanner.

Mr Stewart said HEART 5 had been built by Queenslanders, for Queenslanders.

“The robust vehicle was constructed in Narangba to the highest standards, in order to withstand the wear and tear of travelling through rural Queensland,” he said.

Heart of Australia founder Dr Rolf Gomes said HEART 5 could do a CT parked on a mine site and this was a world first.

“Through the collaboration of the project partners, the Queensland Government, Phillips and I-MED, this technology and innovation has been made possible,” he said.

“HEART 5 breaks down the tyranny of distance, so if you do have a lung disease, we can find it early and quickly.”

Philips ANZ managing director Matt Moran said his company’s innovative technology would allow for earlier detection and faster treatment pathways.

“Philips’ innovative mobile CT technology will help make reliable screening and diagnostic services more accessible to under-served communities in Queensland, allowing for earlier detection, diagnosis and in turn, treatment pathways,” he said.

“Strong partnerships are key to addressing the complex challenges in expanding access to care and through our collaboration with Heart of Australia, we’re able to provide meaningful solutions that improve health outcomes for Australians.”

Current and former workers can access the unit.

The delivery is part of the government’s response to recommendations made in the Black Lung, White Lies report.

Percy Verrall was diagnosed with black lung disease in 2015. He was the first Australian diagnosed with the disease in 30 years.

The report, released in 2017, found there had been a “catastrophic failure, at almost every level, of the regulatory system intended to protect the health and safety of coal workers in Queensland.”

At the time of the report’s release, 21 workers had been diagnosed with coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, commonly known as ‘black lung’.

“Many more coal miners are likely to be diagnosed with this latent onset disease in the future,” the report states.