Dr Ken Wishaw | UniSC | University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Dr Ken Wishaw

Honorary Senior Fellow (April 2014)

Dr Ken Wishaw was named an Honorary Senior Fellow in April 2014 in recognition of his contribution as a pioneer in rescue helicopter medicine and aeromedical intensive care retrieval.

Dr Ken Wishaw was Australia’s first full-time rescue helicopter doctor and is acknowledged as a pioneer in rescue helicopter medicine and aeromedical intensive care retrieval. Ken is a co-founder of CareFlight and the New South Wales Medical Retrieval Service. He conceived of, and developed the stretcher based "mobile intensive care unit", which has been copied around the world by civilian and military medical retrieval services. His autobiography, titled "Helicopter Rescue" was a national best seller. He has also flown as a crewman for the Sunshine Coast rescue helicopter service and served as a medivac officer with the Royal Australian Air Force. Ken was involved in the development of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons course "The early management of severe trauma," and the Australian and New Zealand College of anaesthetists course, "The effective management of anaesthetic crises." He was involved in the development of medical simulator training in Sydney and Brisbane. In 1990, Dr Wishaw became a staff specialist at Nambour General Hospital. He entered private practice on the Sunshine Coast as a consultant Anaesthetist in 1992. In 2008, at the age of 52, Dr Wishaw joined the Army reserve which led to a tour of Afghanistan in 2009, where he was able to help pioneer new techniques for battle trauma management which are now practised across the Australian Defence Force. He is still an active member of the Australian Army Active Reserve.