BLISTER MANAGEMENT AND IMPACT ON FIREFIGHTERS
David Burns,
Senior Paramedic & Paramedic Practitioner
LifeAid, Victoria, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Sydney, Australia | January 2025
David Burns, a Senior Paramedic with LifeAid, a private paramedicine company in Victoria and, has a diverse background in healthcare. He began his career as a registered nurse, progressing to critical care nursing specialising in liver transplants and cardiovascular surgery.
After serving on a rescue helicopter crew, he developed a passion for out-of-hospital healthcare, leading him to pursue paramedic training. Subsequently, he specialised in critical care and flight paramedicine, working in several regions in Australia including Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, and in the United Kingdom.
David’s journey in private paramedicine led him to reconnect with Alan Close, the Managing Director of LifeAid. After contributing during the devastating 16-week bushfire period known as “Black Saturday”, David became passionate about community and primary care aspects of paramedicine and joined LifeAid in 2023.
At the Australasian College of Paramedicine International Conference, David presented research focused on the foot care of firefighters during prolonged bushfire campaigns. During the 2019-2020 bushfires, over 10,000 firefighters sought care, with nearly 50% requiring attention for foot-related issues. David emphasised that inadequate foot care could bench firefighters for up to 10 days, diminishing their ability to protect communities and critical infrastructure. Recognising the economic benefits of prioritising firefighter health, David advocates that ensuring their well-being allows communities to recover effectively and enhances safety for all involved in firefighting efforts.
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Identifying and treating autoimmune neurological disorders
Associate Professor Sudarshini Ramanathan is a neurologist and clinician scientist whose work focuses on autoimmune neurological disorders. Her research has helped identify new neurological syndromes due to antibody-mediated demyelination and encephalitis, and improve diagnostic tools and treatment guidelines for patients with autoimmune diseases affecting the brain, spinal cord, muscles and nerves.
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Links investigated between poor sleep and onset of dementia
Watch Samantha Bramich, a PHD candidate at the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre, University of Tasmania talk on identify the prevalence of rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (RBD) in Tasmania and how poor sleep contributes to the onset of dementia and other diseases.
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Vision impairment in children and the impact on children and their families
Dr Sue Silveira holds a conjoint academic position with Macquarie University and is the Course Director for their Master of Disability Studies, which is administered and delivered by NextSense Institute in affiliation with the University. She teaches in the areas of vision impairment and disability, and aims to share her knowledge while learning from others, especially people who are blind or have low vision and their families.
