Lydia Johns Putra Presenting at Upcoming Avant Event

USANZ Member Lydia Johns Putra is being featured as one of the guest speakers at an upcoming Avant event: The Quake, the Cave, the Commando - Tales of Mental Agility and Resilience.

Lydia Johns Putra was one of the four inaugural recipients of the USANZ Christchurch medal, in recognition of her outstanding acts of bravery during the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. During life-threatening aftershocks, Lydia entered a collapsed building and saved a man's life by performing a bilateral amputation with the only tools that were at hand - a hacksaw and a pocketknife. In 2014, Lydia was awarded the New Zealand Bravery Decoration. Many of our Members will have heard Lydia speak at the USANZ ASM in February this year, as she delivered the Harry Harris Oration alongside Stephen Mark, Stuart Philip and Julian Shah.

Lydia will join a Q&A panel to discuss the experience of working in a crisis. Richard Harris, an anaesthetist and cave diver known for his role in the 2018 Thailand cave rescue, and Dan Pronk, a bestselling author and former SAS and Commandos Regimental Medical Officer will also be on the panel. By sharing their experiences of working under immense pressure, the panel aims to offer resilience strategies that can be applied to your own medical practice.

This event will be held in a number of locations across Australia throughout May 2023, with the first event scheduled in Adelaide on 9 May. For information on dates and how to register, visit the Avant Event webpage.