William Middleton Griggs
Born
Adelaide, South Australia
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
University of Otago
Known forGriggs Technique, Disaster Response
AwardsNational Medal (1993)[1]
(clasp added 2002)[2]
Member of the Order of Australia (2003)
Australian of the Year for South Australia (2006)[3]
Keys to the City of Adelaide (2006)
Ambulance Service Medal (2009)[4]
South Australian of the Year (2009)[5]
Distinguished Alumni Award (2010)
Doctor of the University honoris causa (2014)[6]
Scientific career
FieldsTrauma Response, aviation medicine
InstitutionsUniversity of Adelaide
Griffith University
University of Otago
James Cook University[7]
Australian Defence Force

William Middleton Griggs, AM, ASM is a retired Australian physician specialising in trauma.

In 2006 Griggs became a Member of the Order of Australia for "service to medicine, particularly through trauma, emergency and care management and education, and critical care and retrieval and in support of the Australian Defence Force."[8]

Griggs is one of the founding members of the Australasian Trauma Society and was president from 2001 to 2003.[9][10] Griggs is the author of more than 75 publications and was described by Governor Hieu Van Le as "The face of trauma care and retrieval medicine in South Australia".[6][11]

Griggs is currently the non-executive director of Super SA (since 2009), Return to Work SA (since 2013) and Funds SA (since 2018).[12]

Medical career

Griggs began his medical career in 1976 as a volunteer paramedic while studying as a medical student. He attended his hundredth fatal road crash prior to his graduation in 1981.

As a major trauma specialist, Griggs frequently was called upon by the Australian Defence Force to aid in disaster relief, often assisting in Aeromedical evacuation. This included the 2002 Bali bombings, 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, the SIEV 36 Explosion and the 2009 Samoan Tsunami.

Griggs is considered a world authority on trauma and disaster medicine.[9]

In 1989 Griggs invented a procedure known as the "Griggs technique", which assists in aiding breathing issues by "performing a percutaneous tracheotomy and making an artificial airway for the critically ill and injured".[13] "Griggs technique" has since become more prevalent in the field of trauma medicine and was performed on Pope John Paul II when he experienced breathing issues in 2005.[14]

Griggs held the position of director of trauma services from 1995 as well as Senior consultant for intensive care, retrieval services and anaesthetics from 1989 until his retirement in 2018 at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.[11]

Griggs also acted as director for retrieval coordination for MedSTAR.[15] and was the South Australian State Controller (Health and Medical) for the DPC from 2007 to 2017.[16] He also worked for the South Australian Ambulance Service from the early 1980s until 2019, and has been a volunteer with St John Ambulance Australia since the mid-1970s. He became Commissioner (the most senior volunteer) of St John Ambulance Australia SA in 2021 and still attends major sporting and social events as a senior volunteer Doctor.[9]

From 2010 Griggs was a non-executive director of the Motor Accident Commission of South Australia. He was appointed as the chair of MAC from 2015 and continued in this role until 2019.[12]

International aid

Griggs attained the rank of group captain in the Royal Australian Air Force and was honoured by the United States with a Navy Unit Commendation. Griggs was involved in the Gulf War during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm attached to the United States Navy hospital ship Comfort and the US Navy aircraft carrier Ranger.[17]

In 1994 Griggs deployed to Bougainville as one of five members to provide surgical support as part of the South Pacific Peacekeeping Force during talks in Arawa. Griggs provided medical support from the Buka airfield and later aboard HMAS Tobruk. Upon arrival in Bougainville there had been no doctors on the island for numerous years, with some residents not receiving medical care in over ten years. He returned twice in 1998 as part of a truce and peace monitoring group.[18] In 2004 he was deployed into Banda Aceh, Indonesia, as part of the military response following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Within Indonesia he operated as one of a four person aeromedical evacuation team along with other military personnel with significant trauma response experience. While in Banda Aceh he was photographed with then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell while assisting an injured local.[19][20]

Griggs played an active role in the Australian medical response to the 2002 Bali bombings, helping to coordinate the evacuation of those injured in the attack through Darwin to the Major Trauma and Burns Units all around Australia. He was called upon by the Australian government to fulfil a similar role later during the 2005 Bali Bombings.[19][21] Later in 2005 Griggs was awarded a Chief of Defence Force Commendation for "Outstanding Service during Operation Sumatra Assist".

Griggs joined the South Australian Australian Disaster Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT), which deployed to Samoa following the October 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami along with other Australian Aid staff, DFAT personnel and interstate medical professionals.[22], later that year he also assisted in the medical evacuations from the SIEV 36 disaster off Ashmore Reef.[23]

Griggs also managed the evacuation of victims from the crash of the Garuda Airlines Flight GA200 in Yogyakarta in 2007.[21]

Personal life

Griggs retired from medicine in 2018, at which time he revealed he had suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder.[24]

Griggs has an interest in road accident prevention. In 2004 he started the 'Roads 2 Survival' Program, a community-based initiative which encourages youth to become safer road users.[15]

In 2010, Griggs was chosen to appear on the cover of the 2010/2011 Adelaide White Pages under the theme "Courageous Australians" as a result of a rescue in 1994 where he saved the life of Officer David McManus who had been shot 14 times during a siege in the Barossa.[25]

Education

Griggs attended Prince Alfred College where he was captain of the chess club.[26] He then obtained his MBBS from the University of Adelaide in 1981 and the FFARACS (anaesthesia – 1986 and intensive care – 1989) followed by the FANZCA in 1992, FFICANZCA in 1993.

In the 2000s Griggs returned to the University of Adelaide, where he completed an MBA, graduating on the dean's list of top MBA graduates. He obtained his postgraduate diploma in aviation medicine from the University of Otago in 2000. He qualified for his MBA from the University of Adelaide in December 2009.

Griggs was made a clinical associate professor at the University of Adelaide at the end of 2006. He is a clinical associate professor at Adelaide University and has previously been a senior lecturer at Griffith University and the University of Otago.

References

  1. ↑ "Volunteer Ambulance Officer William Middleton GRIGGS – National Medal". honours.pmc.gov.au. Dept. of Prime Minister and Cabinet. 30 April 1993. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ↑ "Dr William Middleton GRIGGS – National Medal – 1st Clasp". honours.pmc.gov.au. Dept. of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 19 August 2002. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "Professor William 'Bill' Griggs AM ASM". www.australianoftheyear.org.au. 2006. Archived from the original on 27 September 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2022. … a world-renowned authority on trauma medicine and aeromedical retrieval and is one of Australia's leading intensive care anaesthetics, and medical retrieval specialists
  4. ↑ "Associate Professor William Middleton GRIGGS – Ambulance Service Medal". Dept. Prime Minister and Cabinet. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "South Australian of the year awards". Adelaidean. The University of Adelaide. 18 (10): 4. December 2009. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Citation for conferral of Doctor of the University (honoris causa)" (PDF) (Press release). University of Adelaide. 5 May 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  7. ↑ "Trauma specialist is South Australian of the Year".
  8. ↑ "Dr William Middleton GRIGGS – Member of the Order of Australia". Dept. of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 9 June 2003. Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 "Bill Griggs' work at Royal Adelaide Hospital extends overseas as trauma and disaster medicine world expert" (Press release). Adelaide AZ. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "THE HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALASIAN TRAUMA SOCIETY" (PDF). Australasian Trauma Society. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  11. 1 2 Dr Bill Griggs Retirement Celebration. Adelaide: SA Ambulance Service. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Return to Work SA Board" (Press release). Adelaide, South Australia: Government of South Australia. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  13. ↑ Şahiner, İbrahim Tayfun; Şahiner, Yeliz (30 September 2017). "Bedside Percutaneous Dilatational Tracheostomy by Griggs Technique: A Single-Center Experience". Medical Science Monitor. 23: 4684–4688. doi:10.12659/MSM.907006. ISSN 1234-1010. PMC 5633064. PMID 28963447.
  14. ↑ "The man who saved the Pope". www.mdis.org. Medical Devices in Scotland. 21 March 2005. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2020. Dr Bill Griggs developed the tools which Italian surgeons used to perform a tracheostomy on the 84-year-old pontiff last month.
  15. 1 2 Ellis, David. "TRAUMA SPECIALIST IS SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR" (Press release). Adelaide, South Australia: University of Adelaide. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Corporate Ladder: your weekly guide to executive appointments". InDaily. Adelaide. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  17. ↑ "USS Ranger, Gulf War 1991". Footage information. Australian War Memorial. 2 February 1991. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  18. ↑ Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History. "WILLIAM GRIGGS AM, ASM, MBBS, PGDipAvMed, MBA, DUniv (hc), FANZCA, FCICM, FPA, FAICD BOUGAINVILLE". Retrieved 28 November 2021. I went to Bougainville as one of a five member Fly Away Surgical Team (FAST). Our task was to provide level 3 surgical support as members of the South Pacific Peace Keeping Force during planned peace talks in Arawa... Visiting Arawa to run clinics on a regular basis meant locals who had not seen a doctor in over 10 years could come to see us. The pathology mix was impressive, but we were limited in what we could offer.
  19. 1 2 Bullard, Steven (21 September 2017). "The road to Banda Aceh" (PDF). In their Time of Need Australia's Overseas Emergency Relief Operations 1918–2006 (PDF). Vol. 6. Cambridge University Press. pp. 250–255. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks with an Indonesian patient under the care of the Australian Defence Force Aero Medical Evacuation (AME) team in sunami-ravaged Banda Aceh, Indonesia on January 5, 2005. Powell is accompanied by AME commanding officer Wing Commander Bill Griggs" (JPG). United Press International. 6 January 2005. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  21. 1 2 "Recognising excellence". Lumen Magazine. University of Adelaide. 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2021. [..] managed evacuations of victims of the 2002 and 2005 Bali Bombings, the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, and the crash of the Garuda Airlines Flight GA200 in Yogyakarta in 2007.
  22. ↑ Strengthening Australia's Conflict and Disaster Management Overseas. Asia Pacific Civil-Military Centre of Excellence. Australian Government. 2010. p. 21. ISBN 978-0646547657.
  23. ↑ "Emergency Services Dealing with Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs" (PDF). National Emergency Response. 23 (4): 15. 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  24. ↑ "Shot cop thanks his saviour on behalf of all South Australians". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2021. Dr Griggs revealed for the first time he feared he would not be able to save McManus' life, his own battle with post traumatic stress disorder...
  25. ↑ "2012/13 White Pages® Covers Project" (PDF). Report. White Pages Australia. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  26. ↑ "No. 261 Prince Alfred College Chronicle October 1974" (PDF). School Publication. Prince Alfred College. 1974. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
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