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The unexpected was never a problem<br />
Joe is always there to take calls and provide help or advice.<br />
Many years ago, minor surgical procedures were booked<br />
from Surgical Outpatients and performed in ED. One<br />
such was a patient with a ‘sebaceous cyst’ on the scalp<br />
for excision. On infiltrating and injecting to the base<br />
of the lump with local anaesthetic, the needle went in<br />
all the way to its hub without striking the skull despite<br />
being perpendicular to the skin. The X-ray – it was quite a<br />
while ago – showed multiple lytic lesions of the skull.<br />
Joe, then also a member of one of the inpatient surgical<br />
teams, was called. He came in immediately, provided<br />
support and accepted the patient for admission. No harm<br />
was done to the patient from the procedure and the<br />
underlying lesion proved to be metastatic renal cancer.<br />
1Patience and attention to detail<br />
In theatre we were performing a laparotomy for bowel<br />
perforation in an elderly patient. Surgery went well up until<br />
time to close. Joe had chosen to use a paramedian incision<br />
and this was being performed less frequently at the time.<br />
Wound closure took an extended time due to a combination<br />
of the bowel being distended from the nitrous oxide used<br />
by the anaesthetist and the thin, friable tissue of the patient,<br />
with sutures frequently pulling through. With patience,<br />
a considerable time later skin closure was achieved.<br />
Michael Bryant | Emergency physician and<br />
former registrar, Western Hospital<br />
n We were going through<br />
a period of budgetary<br />
constriction. Joe said, ‘The<br />
total amount of money<br />
spent on health will always<br />
go through contractionary<br />
periods. That is really of no<br />
concern to us in emergency<br />
medicine. The size of the cake<br />
may be smaller: we just have<br />
to argue for a larger slice.’<br />
He did this most effectively.<br />
Peter Cameron | emergency<br />
physician, Melbourne<br />
n Thanks for your great<br />
service at Footscray ED over<br />
the years Joe. I loved hearing<br />
your trauma stories, the<br />
insights into how to fix the<br />
Victorian Health System, and<br />
all about the helicopters<br />
used in trauma retrievals.<br />
I also miss the weekly order<br />
of Turkish bread and dips.<br />
An icon of the ED, already<br />
greatly missed.<br />
Vicki Catchpole | emergency<br />
nurse, Footscray Hospital<br />
Thanks for your great service at<br />
Footscray E D over the years Joe.<br />
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