FEATURE | ON THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

FEATURE

ON THE ROAD TO MANDALAY

The recent Primary Trauma Care (PTC) and deceptively well crafted, these films The British ran courses in Africa and Instructor Master Class in Myanmar amused a generation of theatregoers. South America while the Australian (Burma) came close to being a remake of Filled with song and humour, they needed activities were in the Pacific and South that classic Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and minimal narrative. Not so the PTC story, East Asia. The PTC course was agnostic Dorothy Lamour film, Road to Singapore, which started in 1997 in Suva, Fiji, with of medical specialty, attracting instructors as its instructors worked their way to a course co-authored by Tasmanian and participants from Early Management Mandalay writes Dr Haydn Perndt (MBBS, anaesthetist Associate Professor Marcus of Severe Trauma, Advanced Trauma FANZCA, FFARCS). Skinner and Dr Douglas Wilkinson, an Life Support, surgical, anaesthetic and anaesthetist/intensivist from Oxford. PTC emergency backgrounds. The courses The Instructor Master Class ‘starred’ Bob is now in over 60 countries and has been have now spread to the Middle East and Hope (aka Dr James Kong, a surgeon translated into 14 languages. Central Asia. from Hong Kong) with Bing Crosby (Dr Tsun Woon Lee, an anaesthetist also from Like any good film franchise, the PTC Bob Hope (James Kong) and Bing Hong Kong) and Dorothy Lamour (Dr roadshow spread quickly across cultures Crosby (TW Lee) have been ‘on the road Georgina Phillips, a Melbourne emergency and language. The commonality of the to Mandalay’ since 2007. James Kong had physician currently working in Yangon). burden of trauma care was recognised by visited after Cyclone Nargis and with Royal Dr Yu Fat Chow (another anaesthetist surgeon, emergency physician, intensivist Australasian College of Surgeons funding from Hong Kong) and Dr Haydn Perndt and anaesthetist alike. Here was a practical started what is arguably one of the most (an anaesthetist from Hobart) played and systematic approach to improve the interesting PTC start-ups. A charismatic, supporting roles. management of trauma that had been softly spoken local general practitioner, Dr Vijay Kumar has been a very quiet The ‘Road Movies’ were 1940s and 1950s specifically designed for the low resource achiever, leading the courses from success Hollywood at its best. Light, entertaining countries where 90% of the mortality and morbidity occurs. to success. Senior orthopaedic surgeons

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DECEMBER 2013 feature | On the Road to Mandalay

and Yangon University professors helped This was a plot that was bound to Master Class cut to the credits with move the political obstacles. Any new have complications. Between Dorothy’s the airway, cervical spine, breathing, health initiative in low or middle income teaching sessions in the Emergency circulation, disability and exposure countries must perforce take resources Department at the Yangon General refrain ringing in our ears. A tightly from other pre-existing health care Hospital and Bob’s executive team choreographed Primary Survey was the priorities. The success of a new program is building games in the lecture hall of encore before all returned home through often more political than medical. the Myanmar Medical Association, Bing the rainy and steamy Myanmar night. Like all the ‘Road Movies’ the Yangon (TW Lee) decided to run a Change Instructor Master Class had a story within a Management workshop. TW Lee has been story. On this particular week of teaching, a senior bureaucrat in the Hong Kong Bob Hope (James) was planning to train Health Department, so is well placed to new PTC instructors, coach old instructors teach on the subject. The irony of this in ‘Road Movie’ aficionados will know and mentor the nascent PTC leaders Myanmar, a country experiencing change that the hugely popular On the Road in the complex politics of developing at such an incredible pace since the easing to Singapore was released in 1940. PTC in Myanmar, all at the same time! of political sanctions, was not lost on any It was the first of the very successful Meanwhile, Dorothy Lamour (Georgina) of the ‘Road’ cast. ‘On the Road’ series. was double-dealing elsewhere, designing Was there a happy ending in Mandalay? For more information, go to and teaching a completely new training How do the Road Movies usually end? http://bit.ly/1bpM5JI. program for Myanmar’s first Emergency With a song and dance, of course. So, Physicians from the ground up. fittingly, this world-first PTC Instructor

NatioNal scieNtific coNgress gold coast australiaN society of aNaesthetists

Important Dates ■ 14 February 2014: Call for papers open

■ 16 May 2014: Early Bird Registration opens

■ 30 May 2014: Call for Papers closes

■ 21 July 2014: Early Bird Registration closes

■ 4 - 7 October 2014: ASA National Scientific Congress

Practice, precision and professionalism

THE MAGAZINE OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOCIETY OF ANAESTHETISTS • december 2013 41