Trauma care in the tropics: addressing gaps in treating injury in rural and remote Australia

Prof Geoffrey Dobson

qualifications: PhD, FAHA

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Professor, Heart and Trauma Research Laboratory

Australia

Dr Geoffrey Dobson's research strategy at JCU exploits the August Krogh Principle, which states that: "for any question in science there is one animal best suited to study it". The approach involves tapping into hundreds of millions of years of animal adaptations in Nature's own laboratory, and developing new therapeutics to treat human disease. His innovations borrow from natural hibernators and include a new normokalemic 'polarizing' cardioplegia to stop the heart in cardiac surgery, which is currently used in the USA, and at lower doses developing a resuscitation fluid to rescue soldiers suffering catastrophic blood loss on the battlefield. The trauma targets are being developed in collaboration with the US military, and have clinical relevance in tropical, rural and remote prehospital and retrieval medicine. More recently, Dr Dobson's team is developing new applications to treat post-partum hemorrhage, which is the leading cause of direct and preventable death of women globally.

Dr Clinton Gibbs

qualifications: MBBS, FACEM

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Northern Operations Clinical Director

Mr Lee Poole

qualifications: BH(Nurs), MNPractS

contribution: Study conception and design, Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Executive General Manager Nursing and Clinical Services

Dr Ben Butson

qualifications: BMBS, FACEM

contribution: Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Regional Director

A/Prof Luke Lawton

qualifications: MBBS, FACEM

contribution: Drafting of manuscript, Critical revision

position: Director of Emergency Medicine

I am the co-Director of Emergency Medicine at the Townsville Hospital and also appointed as an Associate Professor of Medicine at the James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry. I am also a practicing emergency medicine consultant (FACEM) who focuses on delivering quality patient centered care. The Townsville Hospital is one of the 15 busiest emergency departments in the country, with more than 90 000 presentations in the 2021 financial year. I provide leadership, management and governance for a team of approximately 120 doctors, as well as fiscal and operational oversight of the emergency department. My clinical interests are trauma, retrieval medicine and medical education, and I am also interested in patient flow and health systems improvement. I have experience in change management, risk analysis and case reviews, with a focus on identifying key change needs for future improvement. I also act as an expert witness in accordance with the relevant codes of conduct for expert witnesses and peer review articles for several international journals. I believe it is imperative that senior clinicians are engaged in health management and discussion to ensure a strategic, patient driven approach to service development. I am a published author, active educator and public speaker, clinical case consultant and expert witness, and am happy to be contacted for any information or assistance in these areas.

Dr Jodie Morris

qualifications: PhD

contribution: Drafting of manuscript

position: Researcher

Dr Hayley Letson

qualifications: PhD

contribution: Study conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis and interpretation of data, Drafting of manuscript

position: Researcher

Australia

Research Scientist with an interest in haemorrhage, trauma, shock, traumatic brain injury, sepsis, and infection.