MEET THE
SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Professor Alistair McNarry
Consultant Anaesthetist, Edinburgh, UK
President, Difficult Airway Society (DAS)
Areas of Interest: Airway Management including but not limited to Apnoeic Oxygenation, Awake Tracheal Intubation, Videolaryngoscopy, Supraglottic Airways and Human Factors and although he finds every part of these aspects of management fascinating, his overwhelming interest is in improving the safe airway management of the patients under his care.
Alistair McNarry has been a Consultant Anaesthetist in Edinburgh since March 2006 where he regularly provides anaesthesia for patients undergoing head and neck surgery. Having initially graduated from Cambridge University, he went on to undertake anaesthetic training in the East of England before moving to London where he worked as a Registrar and also as an Airway Fellow at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.
He was appointed as in inaugural National Airway Lead (a joint position between the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Difficult Airway Society) in 2016 and served for seven years ensuring dissemination of good practice in airway management across the UK. He is delighted that the Airway Leads concept has now spread to other countries around the world with the primary aim of making airway management safer. He was awarded the Royal College of Anaesthetists Medal for his work in this field.
He was awarded a DAS Professorship in 2024.
Prof McNarry is delighted to have been invited to visit Australia and looks forward to catching up with old friends and making new ones on this visit.
Dr Cliff Reid
FACEM FRCEM FRCP(Glasg) FFICM FCCM FACPara EDIC DipIMC DipRTM
Emergency Physician and Lead for Resuscitation, Northern Beaches Hospital, NSW
Prehospital & Retrieval Medicine Specialist, NSW Ambulance
Consultant in Intensive Care, Dubbo Health Service
Cliff completed emergency medicine and intensive care training in the UK and a paediatric critical care fellowship in Australia, and has worked in prehospital emergency medicine in England, Hong Kong, and Australia. As director of training he led the introduction of stress exposure training and advanced human factors concepts into critical care paramedic and physician training at Sydney HEMS, and created the Zero Point Survey with international collaborators.
Cliff is fascinated by the commonalities in successful resuscitation cases regardless of patient age or location and believes expert practitioners working in expert systems provide patients with the best chance of life-saving care, and therefore devotes his time to critical care education and supporting the multidisciplinary team. He is currently undertaking a PhD exploring optimal approaches to critical care airway management with Monash University.
You can find him and his teaching videos at CliffReid.com
PRESENTERS & PANELISTS
Dr Louise Ellard
Consultant Anaesthetist, VIC
President, Safe Airway Society
Lead Author, PUMA Extubation Guidelines
Dr Louise Ellard is a Consultant Anaesthetist and Deputy Director of Anaesthesia at Austin Hospital in Melbourne, VIC. Her clinical interests include cardiac surgery, liver transplantation and major hepatobiliary surgery.
She was Chief Fellow at Toronto General Hospital in 2011 - 2012 and during this time completed fellowships in difficult airway, liver transplantation and cardiac anaesthesia. Louise is actively involved in education and has published several book chapters and review articles on airway management.
Professor Andy Higgs
Consultant Anaesthetist & Intensivist, Warrington UK
Co-Author, PUMA Guidelines
Lead Author, DAS Critically Ill Airway Guidelines 2018
Professor Higgs is a Consultant in Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine in Warrington Hospitals, Cheshire (United Kingdom). He is a world renowned airway researcher in airway medicine with hallmark publications including the Difficult Airway Societies (DAS) Guidelines for the management of tracheal intubation in critically ill adults.
Professor Higgs is a founding member of the Safe Airway Society and a co-author of the Project for Universal Management of Airways (PUMA) Guidelines.
Dr Linda Beckmann
Consultant Anaesthetist, QLD
Immediate Past Chair,
Airway Special Interest Group
Dr Linda Beckmann is a Staff Specialist in Anaesthesia at the Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital in Brisbane, QLD. She is the Immediate Past Chair of the ANZCA Airway Special Interest Group.
She has a clinical interest in head and neck anaesthesia and is the State Airway Lead for QLD and for Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospitals.
Dr Nicholas Chrimes
Consultant Anaesthetist, NSW
Project Director, Universal Airway Guidelines (PUMA)
Creator, Vortex Approach
Dr Nicholas Chrimes is internationally recognised for his work on the Vortex Approach to airway management and is the Project Director of the Universal Airway Guidelines (PUMA). He is a Consultant Anaesthetist and Airway Lead at Central Coast Local Health District, NSW and a Simulation Instructor at RNSH Simulation Centre.
He has particular interests in airway management, patient safety, teamwork behaviours, human factors and simplifying clinical decision making in emergency situations.
Dr Anoushka Perera
Emergency Physician, VIC
Deputy Chair and
Deputy Censor-in-Chief,
ACEM Council of Education
Dr Anoushka Perera is an Emergency Physician based at Geelong Hospital, VIC. Working in a dynamic healthcare environment has led Anoushka to be a strong advocate for interprofessional team training in order to standardise approaches to patient care and improve patient safety outcomes.
She has a special interest in paediatrics and is an Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) instructor.
Dr Maryanne Balkin
Consultant Anaesthetist, VIC
Dr Maryanne Balkin in a Staff Specialist in Anaesthesia at the Alfred Hospital, VIC. She is the department Airway Lead and her sub-specialties include ENT and airway anaesthesia.
Maryanne completed a Master's degree in Health Law at the University of Melbourne in 2025. She is also a Lecturer for the Master of Medicine at Monash University.
Dr Matthew James
Consultant Anaesthetist, NSW
Board Member, Safe Airway Society
Dr Matthew James is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Royal North Shore Hospital, NSW, where he also completed his anaesthetic training. During this time, he undertook a term with Careflight pre-hospital medicine, working alongside emergency teams to deliver hospital-level critical care at the roadside. Matt also completed an airway fellowship at RNSH.
His interests include trauma, airway management and human factors in anaesthesia. Matt also continues to teach on the ATTAAC, CCAM and EMAC courses.
Krstin Chrimes
Critical Care Registered Nurse (Anaesthesia), NSW
Clinical Council & Events Manager, Safe Airway Society
Krstin has a background as an intensive care registered nurse, having completed a graduate diploma in critical care nursing and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Innovation & Leadership. Krstin has recently worked as an emergency nurse and is now currently working in anaesthesia at Gosford Hospital, NSW.
Krstin is passionate about advocating for airway allies and has an interest in human factors and multidisciplinary team training and simulation.
Dr Matthew Wiles
Consultant Anaesthetist, UK
Editor-in-Chief, Anaesthesia
Dr Matt Wiles is a Consultant Anaesthetist and Intensivist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of Anaesthesia and an Association of Anaesthetists Board Member.
His clinical interests include neuroanaesthesia, intensive care medicine and major trauma management.
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Join us at a great location, with world-renowned speakers and an awesome program!
Places are limited.
Early registration encouraged to avoid disappointment.
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