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Hi, I'm Dr. Ed Tio. I'm from the police
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medical office and I'm going to answer
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some questions about the medical
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standards for recruitment. So,
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everyone's health condition uh is unique
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and individual and we do assess it on a
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case by case. This is an opportunity to
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ask and answer some general questions
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that I understand the recruitment branch
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has been receiving. But of course as a
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disclaimer uh this is just this general
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advice and obviously we do
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comprehensively assess each case on its
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merits. So neurodyiversity we are
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getting increasing number of
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applications for people with
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neurodyiversity and look it's it's
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something we definitely welcome in the
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workforce. If anything it makes people
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more individual and they contribute
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their own personal style to any
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workplace and we do encourage that.
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Having said that, the individual, the
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worker must still be able to perform the
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inherent duties of their job safely,
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durably, and competently. And in
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reality, there's only so much a job like
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policing can adjust or modify and
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accommodate for someone's
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neurodyiversity. So, we're just trying
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to be realistic about that as well. At
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the end of the day, our workplace is,
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you know, operationally dynamic. It's
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it's paramilitary. It's it's
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hierarchical. So, you know, you have to
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be able to follow orders. You have to be
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able to work in a team and it is a
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physically and psychologically demanding
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job. So you are going to jobs first
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responder emergency situations and it is
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safety critical and it will require you
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to make critical decisions to ensure the
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safety of yourself but also the safety
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of your co-workers and members of the
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public. So essentially like most
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psychological conditions, we essentially
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want someone with neurodyiversity to be
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stable. And what we would look for is in
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the last year or two at least to be able
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to demonstrate that in their personal,
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occupational, and social function uh
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they've been coping well. So what will
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be helpful for those of you who have
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been formally diagnosed with autism uh
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spectrum or attention deficit is to get
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your treatment providers such as your
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general practitioner or psychologist or
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psychiatrist to furnish a report for us
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to consider. And hopefully it is a
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report that's comprehensive. We do have
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a schedule questions that we might send
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out to your treatment providers to
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answer to give more clarity about
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certain things. If you're taking
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medications, it's ideal you have
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stabilized onto a consistent dose for
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that medication. These may include
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psychotropics such as stimulant
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medications for ADHD. And ideally, a
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substantial period should be
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proportionate to the severity and the
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complexity of the condition. So we don't
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have a hard and fast rule for the time
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but generally speaking if it's more
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complex and it's more severe in its
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symptomatology we would expect it to be
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stable uh for a longer period of time or
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more I should say you should be able to
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demonstrate that stability for a longer
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period of time to give that reassurance
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and help balance out some of that risk.
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So look we do have uh a number of people
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who are neurodyiverse in the New South
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Wales police force. Most of them are
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quite functional and operational. There
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may be a period of time where they just
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need to get started on treatment and
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stabilize but we continue to welcome
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them in our workforce. So color vision
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is obviously an important part of
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performing your work as a police
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officer. So apart from in terms of your
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vision capability apart from looking at
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visual fields visual acuity we also look
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carefully at your capability to see
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color. The way that we assess color is
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in a tiered fashion. The first tier is
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you do what we call Ishiharaas, which is
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really a book of plates that we go
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through that screens for any color
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deficiencies. If you don't pass that, we
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have a second tier test, which is where
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you get referred to a a optometrist who
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specializes in color vision assessments
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and you will undergo some more
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specialist tests such as the D15 and the
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Lantern Fanssworth testing. There's a
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third tier if required where you'll
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undergo a practical color vision
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operational assessment if required. So
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epilepsy or seizure disorders provided
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that it's well controlled for a
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substantial period with or without
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medications is something that we look at
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to see if someone would be compatible or
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appropriate to recruit into the police
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force. It largely depends on the type of
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the seizure. So we're very similar to
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the commercial standards, the Australian
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fitness to drive guidelines.
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Essentially, anyone who's had a seizure
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by default should wait at least 10 years
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without any seizures. So, a seizure-free
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period before joining uh the police
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force in an operational role. Other key
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things is obviously people who have had
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epilepsy apart from demonstrating that
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10 years should have had some point a
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scan of their brain. They may have also
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had a EEG and ideally a letter from
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their neurologist attesting to that
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stability. So asthma is a condition
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that's potentially acceptable in the
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police force like most of things as long
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as it's stable. So generally we consider
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stable as something that's well
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controlled and compliant with your
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puffers and with your asthma action plan
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that you've had with your GP and/or
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respiratory physician. In certain
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patients, we may require them to get
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further tests. As part of the
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recruitment process, the doctor should
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be able to facilitate a basic sperometry
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test. There are cases where you will be
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referred to a respiratory specialist to
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undergo some more specialized tests to
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ensure that the asthma is sufficiently
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under control and the recruitment team
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will help you with further instructions
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regarding that. Most asthmatics are able
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to do general duties effectively and
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without any issue. There are some things
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that you should be aware is that police
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are exposed to CS gas and OC spray and
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sometimes the more specialized units may
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be required to use self-contained
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breathing apparatus. In those
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situations, there may be some additional
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assessments. So, diabetes, as most of
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you may know, there's type 1 and type
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two. Generally speaking, we do accept
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people with diabetes into the police.
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Like most medical conditions, we just
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need to make sure it's sufficiently
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controlled. So generally speaking, we
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will require a letter from your general
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practitioner and or endocrinologist
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basically going through that the blood
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tests and the eye checks and the urine
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checks and the other diabetes cycle of
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care is all up to date and all the
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numbers are all stable and good. Most
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importantly, we also need to make sure
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you haven't had any blackouts in context
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of your blood sugars getting really
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really high or really really low and
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that you have been taking the
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medications, you're compliant to it and
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there are no significant side effects.
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So hearing is obviously a very important
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sensory function for police officers to
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be able to communicate, hear and listen
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to their co-workers, their teammates,
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members of the public who they are
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communicating with, their radios and so
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on. So it's important that people
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applying for the police force are able
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to hear adequately in both their ears.
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So we assess hearing in a tiered
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approach. Just know that we test you
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without any hearing aids and then after
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that if needed we also get you to do
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what we call speech discrimination test
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if required. But the final tier is we
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also do accept people potentially with
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hearing aids provided that you meet the
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hearing standard with them. So policing
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is obviously a very physically demanding
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job. It's almost comparable to a contact
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sport. Having said that, you know, we do
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get a lot of police officers who have
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knee issues and have had many surgeries
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themselves. This within itself is not an
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exclusion criteria to join and continue
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working in the police force. Surgeries
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like ACL or meniscus repair, provided
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that your surgeon's happy, you've had
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the rehab, you're back to doing
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everything you can normally do at home
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and back to playing sports. that is you
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have good functional capacity of your
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knee and your lower limbs that you would
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normally have prior to injuring and
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prior to have the surgery then provided
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it's there's no significant impairment
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or risk of reinjury it should not be an
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issue for applying. So we understand
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that people need to take medications as
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part of treating their medical
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conditions. Two key things to understand
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is ensuring that the medication you're
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taking, you're on a stable dose and the
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medication is not giving any significant
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side effects that may affect your
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ability to do your job safely. The
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second thing is making sure that the
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underlying medical condition for which
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you are taking the prescribed medication
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is also adequately stable and well
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controlled. In terms of the different
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types of medications, there are
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obviously some medications that will be
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compatible and not compatible with
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safety critical operational work as a
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police officer. The first thing is to
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discuss with your doctor as to whether
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any of the medications you have been
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prescribed have any significant side
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effects. Generally speaking, without
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going through each class of medication,
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just be cautious about schedule 4
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appendix D and schedule 8 medications
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such as benzoazipines, opioids,
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antiscychotics, which may have a risk of
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impairment. The New South Wales Police
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Force assesses psychological conditions
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for its applicants on a case-byase
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basis. Generally speaking, we look for a
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substantial period of stability to be
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demonstrated. We also take a
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proportionate approach to the complexity
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and severity of that psychological
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condition to determine how long that
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substantial period should be. Generally,
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we do require reports from your treating
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general practitioner and or psychologist
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and or psychiatrist attesting to that
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stability and the recruitment branch and
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its doctors can help you and your
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treatment providers provide that report.
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So, I hope that answers some of your
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questions today. If any further
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questions, please feel free to email the
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pre-employment medical provider and or
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get in touch with your case manager at
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the police recruitment branch.
