ASAPS Stands with Christchurch
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Dr Naveen Somia, President of ASAPS, on behalf of the ASAPS Board, has expressed sincere sympathy to the community of Christchurch and the people of New Zealand who have been affected by the atrocity that occurred on Friday 15 March.
“The atrocity in Christchurch has shocked us all. We want to acknowledge and greatly appreciate the New Zealand community who have all come together and supported each other at this challenging time,” Dr Somia said.
Dr Chris Porter, Specialist Plastic Surgeon and Clinical Director of the Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Department at the Christchurch Hospital said we were fortunate that every consultant in our team was in Christchurch for the weekend.
“This allowed us to create a rolling roster to make use of everyone but also being mindful of rostering time off to get some rest and try to make sense of this atrocity. We learnt a lot of lessons from the Christchurch earthquakes about fatigue and are now acutely aware that to be useful to our patients; we must also look after ourselves. This collaborative approach was unlimited across the surgical specialties, which allowed us to undertake many concurrent multi-disciplinary operations patients with complex injuries we had been unaccustomed to.
“It’s a testament to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), and the skills and judgement imparted during our training that we had ample ability to deal with whatever we were dealt with. We are now entering the post-operative period for our patients, and just like the aesthetic patients we operate on, the psychological effects will last considerably longer than it takes for the wounds to heal,” Dr Porter said.
The ASAPS Board commends the efforts of the following Specialist Plastic Surgeons from the Christchurch Hospital:
- Dr Terry Creagh FRACS
- Dr Andrew Davidson FRACS
- Dr Dylan James FRACS
- Dr Howard Klein FRACS
- Dr Sally Langley FRACS
- Dr Barnaby Nye FRACS
- Dr Chris Porter FRACS
- Dr Jeremy Simcock FRACS
- Dr Kirk Williams FRACS
The ASAPS Board also commends the efforts of the following Plastic Surgery Registrars:
- Dr Wei Lun Wong
- Dr Jun Kwon
- Dr Victoria Lo
- Dr Orazio Di Bartolo
- Dr James Eason
- Dr Stephanie Savage
- Dr Rebecca McLean
- Dr Nicholas Brougham
- Dr Simon Nicholson
