A group of volunteers who drive an ear-checking bus could possibly have saved the hearing of up to 400 kids in central west bush towns - and other communities want to hear about it. Sue Went, volunteer treasurer at the Hear Our Heart Ear Bus, was invited to attend a national ear health conference in Adelaide to present along with her peers on the work they do checking thousands of children's ears. "We had the Ear Bus parked directly outside the conference entrance at the hotel and people came out at lunchtime during their breaks to have a look through the bus and see what we did with that," Ms Went told the Daily Liberal. "It was very positive - they were very interested in the fact that we're essentially a volunteer organisation." The Ear Bus, based in Dubbo, visits schools and preschools in Dubbo and the surrounding towns approximately every three months, to check their ear health. Children identified as needing an urgent follow-up are then checked again in Dubbo at the not-for-profit organisation's office in Erskine Street. Since the bus began in 2012 the team has checked around 10,000 children and sent up to 400 for follow-ups. On the radar is Otis Media, or middle ear infection, a common childhood illness causing earache and fever, which can lead to behavioural changes. Ms Went's family has been touched personally by the illness. "[My grandson] was diagnosed as a toddler with Otis Media, which is one of the most common diseases that children develop with their ears and it can affect their lifestyle as well as their hearing," she said. Because of the Ear Bus, hundreds of children with Otis Media have had operations to have grommets fitted for their ears which has helped their hearing and therefore their attentiveness in class. "Because they're learning, they're being more attentive in class and it helps the teachers because they don't have these kids that are disrupting the other kids in the class because they're bored or they can't hear for whatever reason," Ms Went said. "The overall benefit to the community, individually for the children, for the parents, for the schools and the community, there is nothing but positive." Based in Dubbo, NSW, we provide free ear health education, targeted hearing testing and free access to ear specialists to children in Dubbo and Districts. Ms Went said the Ear Bus is unique in Australia because it encompasses education as well as ear checks. The bus began because there was no other free testing for children's ears in the community. "I'm a firm believer that if you have the time and the capability, you should be volunteering in our society and charities to me are the obvious place to volunteer," Ms Went said.
