Trauma on the Border 2021

Land, Air and Sea - Conquering unique trauma challenges

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.

Presented by: Phil Gadd (Clinical Deployment Supervisor, Queensland Ambulance Service)

Phil joined the Queensland Ambulance Service as a Diploma student in 2011 after previous roles in the Australian Army and the security industry. He started his ambulance career at Woodridge station and has worked as an Advanced Care Paramedic in the Logan area as well as the Gold Coast. Phil currently works in the Southport Operations Centre as a Clinical Deployment Supervisor, overseeing ambulance operations in Metro South, West Moreton and the Gold Coast. Phil holds a Bachelor of Paramedicine from the University of Tasmania and a Graduate Diploma of Critical Care Paramedicine from Edith Cowan University and hopes to continue his training to become a Critical Care Paramedic in the near future. Phil is a keen scuba diver and loves to share his passion for the sport with others, especially when it comes to the safe planning and execution of dives and being prepared for an emergency should it occur. He started with his PADI Open Water course in 2002 and has since completed several courses in rescue and dive medicine. He lives on the Gold Coast with his wife, two daughters and two miniature dachshunds.