Trauma management in as far as Antarctica

Progress and innovation in the management of trauma across Australia and New Zealand will be a focus point at this years' RACS Tasmanian Annual Scientific Meeting, which has combined this year with the RACS Trauma Symposium.

Dr Roland Watzl, Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy's Australian Antarctic Division will be presenting Trauma in the Farthest Reaches: Australia's Antarctic Program which will detail the medical support model for Australia's Antarctic Program and provide a review of a case of Antarctic multitrauma.

"The key to the success of Australia's Antarctic medical support is the appropriately trained, generalist procedural medical practitioner - supported by 24/7 telemedicine on station or on the ship - who is capable of dealing with a broad spectrum of medical possibilities, from the treatment of a broken leg to performing an emergency appendicectomy, and the diverse range of mind and body ailments in between. There may be lessons for regional and remote Australia." Dr Watzl said.

Graduating from the University of Sydney in 1995, Dr Watzl has spent his career seeking a generalist scope of practice with experience in surgery, emergency management and military as well as aviation, expedition, maritime and retrieval medicine. He has worked extensively in remote settings overseas and in Antarctica, and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.

Dr Watzl will join local and national trauma specialists and medical professionals who will provide presentations on paediatric trauma, chest and abdominal models of care, advances in resuscitation, gun laws in Tasmania and a host of other topics aimed to stimulate and inspire delegates to think more broadly about trauma management.

The meeting, to be held at the University of Tasmania in Hobart on 9-10 November themed Regional Trauma in Australasia: What is possible and how far can we reach? will attract medical professionals, traumatologists and emergency services personnel, all eager to weigh in on the discussion of effective trauma and emergency management processes.

This event is hosted by the Tasmanian branch of RACS, and is supported by Bongiorno Group and the Tasmanian government.