ANZCA Bulletin June 2011 - Australian and New Zealand College of ...

Anaesthetists train
for disaster in Darwin
Seventeen anaesthetists joined
international colleagues on an AusMAT
Surgical and Anaesthetic Course
(AusMATSAC) held at the National
Critical Care and Trauma Response
Centre in Darwin in April. Three New
Zealand anaesthetists attended the
course, two from each Australian state
and territory, and one each from Fiji
and the United Arab Emirates.
The course was designed to prepare
civilian medical personnel to work in
austere environments under extreme
pressure with large numbers of patients
– essentially responding to disasters.
It focused on the safety and security
of the medical personnel and the
medical and surgical techniques likely
to be required. The other participants
included surgeons and theatre nurses.
The faculty included ANZCA Fellows
Dr Haydn Perndt, from Tasmania,
and Dr Brian Spain and Dr Phil Blum
from Darwin, along with Dr Anthony
Redmond, Professor of International
Emergency Medicine at the University
of Manchester (UK), and Dr Chris
Giannou, a Greek-Canadian war
surgeon and former chief surgeon
for the International Committee of
the Red Cross.
One of the New Zealand participants
was Dr Bryce Curran, who spoke about
his experience working in the field
following the Christchurch earthquake
in February (ANZCA Bulletin,
March 2011).
Another Christchurch anaesthetist,
Dr Wayne Morriss, and Auckland North
Shore anaesthetist Dr Maurice Lee
also attended. Dr Morriss is running
the Real World Anaesthesia Course
in Christchurch in August and Dr Lee
represents ANZCA at New Zealand
Ministry of Health meetings about
disaster response preparedness. He was
in Wellington attending an emergency
management conference when the
quake struck and was seconded to the
Ministry of Health for 10 days to provide
clinical advice as it responded to the
disaster in Christchurch.
The Real World Anaesthesia
Course is designed to provide skills
for working in developing countries
and in humanitarian and civil
disaster situations. Previously known
as the Remote Situation, Difficult
Circumstance, Developing Country
Anaesthesia Course, it will be held in
New Zealand for the first time this year.
The three-day AusMATSAC combined
classroom-based lectures, including
anaesthetics in an austere environment.
A field simulation component included
an overnight deployment.
Dr Curran said the course was
excellent, with a mix of lectures and
field exercises designed to ensure
participants were fit for deployment
to a disaster zone, hostile environments
or developing countries.
“We were able to cope in
Christchurch with local resources but
we were on the cusp of something
much more significant for which we
would have needed this sort of medical
assistance team,” he said.
As well as medical issues and the
practical requirements of setting up
a field hospital, the course covered
communications and security
requirements and the psychological
effects that can follow such a
deployment.
For information about courses
offered by the National Critical Care
and Trauma Response Centre, visit
www.nationaltraumacentre.nt.gov.au.
Susan Ewart
Communications Manager, ANZCA
New Zealand
Above clockwise from left: Setting up the
field hospital tent; surgical simulation in the
field hospital tent; checking urban search and
rescue supplies.
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ANZCA Bulletin June 2011