Associate Professor Geoff Ramin
International Medical Systems (IMS) was formed by Geoff Ramin and provides high quality medical repatriation services to and from anywhere in the world. IMS also provides a range of consultancy and educational services related to pre-hospital care, aeromedical transportation and medical retrieval. IMS' activities have been as diverse as helping develop industrial paramedic services on Groote Eylandt, providing medical support to sporting events and training all aeromedical doctors for the Hong Kong helicopter based medical retrieval system. Geoff is a specialist Emergency Physician who also works clinically in Intensive Care. He has extensive experience in pre-hospital care and medical retrieval.
Geoff is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Allianz Global Assistance. He has over 25 years of extensive clinical experience and knowledge in specialist emergency medicine, intensive care, prehospital care, aviation medicine, aeromedical retrieval, wilderness and altitude medicine. Geoff has extensive experience in both the coordination of aeromedical evacuation services and the conduct of medical repatriation and retrieval.
Geoff is also the Medical Director of MSS Strategic Medical which specialises in the provision of emergency medical services to the natural resources sector and is part of MSS, Australia's largest provider of security services. Geoff is currently also a Consultant in Intensive Care at The Tweed Hospital.
Geoff has previously been Director of Emergency Medicine at the Gold Coast’s John Flynn Hospital, Medical Director of CareFlight QLD, Medical Director of Aeromedical and Critical Care Services RFDS QLD and Network Director Emergency Medicine for the Tweed Byron region.
Geoff was awarded an Australia Day Medallion for his services to pre-hospital care in 1999.
Speakers
Dr Nory Garcia
Dr. Garcia grew up in Puerto Rico where she completed her undergraduate studies at UPR and then relocated to New York State to complete her doctorate dental degree in Buffalo. She then completed her general practice residency in Salt Lake City.
She loves the outdoors and started a private dental practice in western Colorado and ran it for 14 years. She developed a passion for traveling and left private practice to work overseas as a dental volunteer in remote areas in rural Alaska, Nepal, Bhutan and Chiapas-Mexico. Her journeys eventually led her to New Zealand where she now calls home and practices at Southland Hospital. She continues to enjoy her passion for mountaineering, snowboarding, diving, surfing, and adventurous travel.
Dr Neil Waldman
Dr Waldman is originally from New England in the United States and after completing specialty training in emergency medicine in Denver, Colorado and working in Colorado for 14 years, he relocated to New Zealand. He has been working as an emergency medicine consultant at Southland Hospital since 2008.
He has a special interest in trauma and high altitude medicine and has published textbook chapters and papers on these topics. After university, he backpacked around the world on a shoestring and continues his love of travel as a medical volunteer working in Nepal, Bhutan, and Mexico. He enjoys adventurous travel and backcountry activities that involve skiing, mountaineering, and hiking.
More speakers to be announced soon...
Dr Martin Watts
Dr Watts qualified originally in UK where he spent some of his younger years walking through peat bogs on the North York Moors. After Medical School and training as a GP, he moved to New Zealand in the early 1990’s. Re-training as an Emergency Medicine Specialist he took time out to work at the New Zealand National Poisons Centre and also spent seven months as an Island Doctor on the remote Pacific Atoll of Faka’ofo, Tokelau. He was involved in bringing Advanced Wilderness Life Support to New Zealand and is a New Zealand Resuscitation Council Instructor. He still manages to work full time as an Emergency Specialist at Southland Hospital, Invercargill, New Zealand, in between spending time with his family, looking after a small farm and tinkering with classic cars.
A/Prof Drew Richardson MB BS (Hons) FACEM
Drew is the NRMA-ACT Road Safety Trust Chair of Road Trauma and Emergency Medicine at the Australian National University Medical School. His clinical position is Senior Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine at The Canberra Hospital.
