Battlefield Surgery

The Future of Battlefield Surgery with John Swinnen

The traditional battlefield involved soldiers on both sides, fighting against each other.

Today, the battlefield is quite different and this has impacted how we practice surgery. Why?

First, the world is full, more than half of humanity lives in cities. Hospitals in developing countries are exhausted and under-resourced.

Furthermore, the threats we face today are global – global warming, pollution, air pollution, terrorism and water supply.

Modern-day weapons are so powerful that conventional warfare is almost obsolete – atomic weapons, cyber warfare.. the list goes on.

Finally, diagnosis and surgical intervention relies on extensive technology and minimal invasiveness. This is unsuitable to battlefield situations and makes it incredibly challenging to provide care.

MSF goes where no one else will go, but doing this kind of good is not getting any easier.

The podcast

Gary Berkowitz

Sydney vascular surgeon Dr John Swinnen OAM is Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery at Westmead Clinical School. John is trained as a General Surgeon and Vascular Surgeon

Oliver Flower

Oliver Flower, staff specialist in Intensive Care Medicine at Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney | NeuroResus |