As one of Australia's largest teaching and research hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) is at the forefront of burns and trauma research and treatment. It remains on standby, 24-hours a day, to treat critically ill or injured patients in Queensland and internationally.

Burns, trauma and critical care is an area of research and patient care proudly supported by RBWH Foundation donors since it helped open the Queensland Skin Bank at RBWH. The Skin Bank allowed the state’s medical scientists, for the first time, to store and culture grafts for burn patients.  

RBWH research in the area expanded further following the 2002 Bali bombings, in which then Royal Brisbane Hospital played a major role treating patients. 

Skin culture and regeneration has now entered a new era with the opening of Herston Biofabrication Institute (HBI) where research is underway into 3D bioprinting of skin. 

This proud culture of research is supported by the RBWH Professor Stuart Pegg Adult Burns Centre. The Burns Unit is Australia’s foremost and busiest burns unit and has one of the best survival rates in the world and leads international clincial trials. With your support, many more research projects can be launched.

RBWH plays a pivotal role in regional disasters such as New Zealand’s 2019 White Island volcanic eruption, the Bali Bombings and the 2021 mining explosion in Moranbah, Central Queensland, which critically injured five miners who all survived. The miners survived and continue to be cared for by RBWH. 

Of around 600 burns admissions per year, most require surgery. The outpatient numbers sit between 3000-3500 consultations per year, many of which are from remote and regional areas.  RBWH also provides 24/7 specialist burns advice through its tele-medicine burns referral service. Your support can help RBWH go above and beyond for people who are critically sick and injured. 

After a horrific road accident in Central Queensland, truck driver Glen Bennett was airlifted to RBWH with burns to 70% of his body. Glen would remain in hospital for six months, the first 24 days in a coma. When he finally woke, Glen had lost both his legs.

A multidisciplinary team of trauma, intensive care and burns experts worked together to mend Glen's shattered body, drawing on research discoveries to provide the latest treatment. His recovery is remarkable and although far from over, the outlook is positive.

Dr Jason Brown, RBWH's Director of the Professor Stuart Pegg Adult Burns Centre says he's met few like Glen.

"I think what's impressive is the way he approaches things," says Dr Brown. "He fights and is pushing hard to get back as normal a life as he can."

Glen draws strength from his wife Roni and young son Hugo, recalling the time the little boy sat at the bottom of his hospital bed, patted him on his stumps and said, "It will be OK, Daddy."

Glen continues to undergo rehabilitation and is learning to walk again with prosthetic legs. He now has hope about his  future.

In 2022, RBWH Foundation donors funded $1 million to establish RBWH Foundation WeCU – a two-year pilot program to provide care and comfort to family members with fathers, sons, mothers, and daughters in RBWH ICU.

The program provides a Concierge Service - dedicated staff who provide support to families 7 days a week with orientation, advice and information about what to expect while their loved one is being cared for in the ICU. The program also included funding for improved communication solutions for staff, families and patients as well as a refurbishment of the family waiting room space, creating a comfortable place for families.

The WeCU program supports families so that they can spend their precious time on what matters most - their loved ones.

While very donation makes a difference, regular gifts are the most powerful way to help ensure life-saving trauma and burns research continues, improving survival rates and recovery times for people who are critically sick or injured.