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n Thank you Joe just for<br />
being you, and for sharing<br />
some of your knowledge and<br />
expertise with us nurses. You<br />
were extremely thorough with<br />
your assessments and were<br />
never tired of listening to the<br />
patients’ concerns, even if<br />
some of them were not health<br />
related. We knew that you<br />
would not be available for at<br />
least half an hour while you<br />
were doing your assessments.<br />
One memory that will stay<br />
with me forever was that<br />
I was able to witness your<br />
talents first hand in a highly<br />
dangerous situation when<br />
you did a burr hole procedure<br />
in the resuscitation area<br />
when I was very new in my<br />
nursing career. I have not seen<br />
anything as fascinating since.<br />
Also, when asking you one<br />
day in the nurses station<br />
why you brought in food<br />
whenever you were on, your<br />
answer was, ‘If you feed<br />
the animals, they become<br />
calm and happy.’ My answer<br />
was, ‘Hmm, fair enough.’<br />
I then broke off a piece<br />
of savoury bread Joe had<br />
brought in, smiled, and<br />
walked away thinking<br />
how right he was. Thanks<br />
for the bread Joe. I<br />
really do miss that.<br />
Heather Chapman | emergency<br />
nurse, Footscray Hospital<br />
n Emergency medicine in<br />
Christchurch will always be<br />
grateful for Joe <strong>Epstein</strong> and<br />
the then head of surgery,<br />
John Morton, for agreeing<br />
to establish an academic<br />
appointment in emergency<br />
medicine as part of the<br />
Department of Surgery at<br />
Christchurch Hospital in<br />
1991. They believed that<br />
the great variety of clinical<br />
work passing through the<br />
emergency department would<br />
provide useful undergraduate<br />
teaching and a basis for<br />
research. Anne-Maree Kelly<br />
and her successor, Michael<br />
Ardagh, established and<br />
continued to develop the<br />
specialty and the Department<br />
of Emergency Medicine is<br />
now held in high esteem.<br />
Staff members, and<br />
performance at the time<br />
of the earthquakes, and<br />
since, have been praised.<br />
Thank you Joe for your<br />
support and best wishes for<br />
a well earned retirement.<br />
Alan Chirnside | surgeon<br />
and emergency department<br />
director, Christchurch<br />
n I have known Joe for<br />
about 14 years and enjoyed<br />
working with him. Old<br />
nurse as I was, I still gained<br />
some insights from you.<br />
Best wishes for your retirement.<br />
Desley Cliffe | emergency nurse<br />
(retired), Footscray Hospital<br />
Thank you<br />
Joe just for<br />
being you.<br />
10 | A tribute to <strong>Joseph</strong> <strong>Epstein</strong>
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