Trauma on the Border 2021

Land, Air and Sea - conquering unique trauma challenges

Friday 19th March 2021

The TotB21 conference program will be delivered as a hybrid event on Friday 19th March 2021, allowing attendees the opportunity to attend the conference in person (at Tweed Heads) as well as online attendees to watch live sessions on a dedicated event page on the College website.

This year’s theme is “Trauma: Air, Land and Sea” and as always, our conference will focus on providing the education that paramedics of all levels need; covering student paramedics, on road paramedics, intensive and extended care paramedics, flight and mobile paramedics, paramedic educators and academics, and senior managers.

Presentations for TotB21 will include:

Trauma Resuscitation - Big picture thinking This keynote presentation will explore some of the key concepts, philosophy and challenges relating to prehospital trauma management.

Penetrating Trauma - is this one for real? This talk will analyse the prehospital assessment and management of penetrating trauma including the accuracy of clinical wound examination, the evidence base behind current treatment strategies and the interface between prehospital and in-hospital care.

A Complicated Island Retrieval Managing the many challenges of retrieving an injured patient from a remote indigenous island community when you cannot fly. All cases have their unique challenges but when your patient's weight exceeds the loading limit of the helicopter what are the other options available and what goes into your preparation?

Working Under Pressure Underwater diving is a term that encompasses a wide variety of recreational and commercial groups who use a range of apparatus including SCUBA (self-contained underwater breathing apparatus), fully-contained units (rebreathers), surface-supplied air and freediving. Whether a person is diving recreationally with an interest in marine life, wrecks and reefs, or diving professionally in underwater construction or search and rescue, all divers are subject to a special set of environmental and physiological factors. Diving emergencies present unique challenges to medical professionals, particularly in the pre-hospital environment and it is important that clinicians maintain current knowledge of dive physiology, types of potential dive emergencies and evidence-based treatment protocols.

Dodging curve balls in prehospital care, a walk in the (zoo) park A Zookeeper was pinned against a bollard by a 1200kg elephant. This patient presented as critical with severe injuries to the chest including a tension pneumothorax. Paramedics carried out bilateral needle decompression which not only avoided certain death but led to a full patient recovery. In this presentation we will look at some of the complexities of the pre-hospital setting that can act like “curve balls”, potentially compromising, confusing and distracting us in the field and discuss how to avoid them. A Zookeeper was pinned against a bollard by a 1200kg elephant. This patient presented as critical with severe injuries to the chest including a tension pneumothorax. Paramedics carried out bilateral needle decompression which not only avoided certain death but led to a full patient recovery. In this presentation we will look at some of the complexities of the pre-hospital setting that can act like “curve balls”, potentially compromising, confusing and distracting us in the field and discuss how to avoid them.

Trauma on the High seas This is a reflective memoir of Renee McHugh's time at sea in Western Africa as a volunteer medic for Sea Shepherd. The potential for trauma on a ship at sea is extreme and exists everywhere. This talk explores the diverse occupational hazards and human risk involved in the direct action campaigns to protect marine wildlife and habitat. These campaigns are conducted in remote and isolated marine protected areas of the Gulf of Guinea. Due to the remoteness of the region, the trauma from serious illness or injury could be potentially catastrophic. Risk identification, management and mitigation in this environment is paramount because tertiary care facilities are thousands of kilometres away.

Rural and Remote Trauma – The tyranny of distance Trauma does not respect geography. This presentation will discuss the unique aspects of the Rural and Remote Context and describe some of the challenges encountered in delivery of trauma care in austere and resource limited settings. We will question and discuss how Rural Medicine fits (or sometimes does not fit!) into the broader trauma care system, and how the intersection of aviation, communication, and medicine affects our ability to treat patients. Be forewarned, by the end of this presentation you may just be brainwashed to come and join us!

Paediatric Trauma : a crash course Major trauma in the paediatric population is thankfully rare. However, attending such a scene can be significantly confronting for all clinicians. Emotions will be running high and stress levels will rise. This talk will explore the nuances of assessment and management of the paediatric trauma patient compared with an adult. The talk will also touch on methods to help paramedics maintain their performance when experiencing the negative side effects of stress.

Trauma on the wire Sometimes trauma patients get themselves into mischief in inaccessible, remote or otherwise just crappy positions. Winch extractions of trauma patients are not without risk and this presentation will explore the intricacies and complexities of taking a trauma patient out on a 19 x 7 non-rotating steel cable.

Interactive case trauma presentations – State of Origin The presentation will involve multiple case studies to demonstrate critical advances in care, in addition to treatment principles that will change outcomes for the better. Participant participation is guaranteed, including clinicians from both sides of the border!

Trauma Care: Challenges faced at - 30 In this presentation I will present a few case studies that outline the challenges faced when providing trauma care to patients in extreme cold temperatures. I will review the various equipment- related issues that arise and how we work to mitigate these issues. I will discuss other challenges that we face and the training we provide to prepare our crews for winter operations.

Click Here to View Presenter Biographies

Photo credit: Richard Bugg, Ambulance Tasmania Intensive Care Paramedic