On an Antarctic research station, there’s only one doctor and no nurses. In case of a medical emergency, it takes the plumber to be the anaesthetist, or the carpenter to be the scrub nurse.

Staff at the Royal Hobart Hospital do a phenomenal job preparing our Antarctic expeditioners to be Lay Surgical Assistants, as part of a globally unique training program.

This week Memoranda of Understanding were signed between the Australian Space Agency and NASA, and the Australian and Tasmanian Governments, that highlight areas of cooperation in the space industry and the proposed Moon to Mars mission.

The MoU includes recognition of the specialist capabilities that Tasmania brings to remote medicine as pioneered by the Australian Antarctic Division, and further developed by the Centre for Antarctic, Remote and Maritime Medicine (CARMM).

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