The Big Red Kidney Bus has been parked up at Merimbula this month, providing a free dialysis service allowing people on dialysis to travel to the area, take a holiday and continue to receive their treatment.
Currently set up at NRMA Merimbula Beach Holiday Resort for the first time, Kidney Health Australia and Royal North Shore Hospital welcome all locals to come see the way the service works and learn more about kidney disease.
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“We are delighted to bring the Big Red Kidney Bus to Merimbula. Our bus is much loved by our kidney community as it gives them the freedom to move beyond their treating clinic and visit other parts of Australia – a freedom so many of us take for granted,” Kidney Health Australia CEO Chris Forbes says.
Ran by Kidney Health Australia, two Big Red Kidney Buses travel to coastal and regional destinations in NSW, the Gold Coast and Victoria every year, staying at holiday parks for four to six weeks at a time.
Each Bus features three comfortable dialysis chairs with individual entertainment systems and wheelchair access, with three morning and three evening sessions available from Monday to Saturday on each bus.
The Eden-Monaro electorate has the nationwide highest percentage of the community diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.
1,970 Eden-Monaro residents have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, and more than 17,700 people are likely to have the condition undiagnosed. In fact, you can lose 90 percent of kidney function before symptoms appear, resulting in late diagnosis.
“We hope that having the bright red bus in Merimbula will bring much needed awareness to locals about kidney health and the fact that 1.8 million adult Australians who have kidney disease remain undiagnosed,” Forbes says.
All dialysis sessions on the bus are free of charge and there is no limitation on the number of sessions that can be booked allowing visitors to book for a week or four weeks.
However, visitors need to organise and pay for their own accommodation and transport to and from the bus destination.
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