Wounds Australia was pleased to host the launch of the Prevention and Management of Pressure Ulcers/Injuries: Clinical Practice Guideline: the International Guideline (4th edition) last week in Sydney. 

The global gold standard in pressure injury prevention and management, the International Guideline is a joint publication of the Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance (PPPIA, of which Wounds Australia is a member), the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) and the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP). 

Media launch

On publication day on Friday 28 February, we were delighted to welcome our expert speakers and VIP guests to Lidcombe's Ferguson Lodge, a world-leading spinal cord injury residential facility managed by Wounds Australia Gold Members and launch co-hosts Forward Ability Support | BrightSky Australia. 

Krysti-Lee Patterson, Wounds Australia Board Director and Pharmacist, hosted the event, introducing the first speaker Ms Sally Sitou MP, Member for Reid. Ms Sitou shared stories of her constituents living with or caring for those with chronic wounds and underscored the importance of evidence-based best practice in delivering the healing they needed. 

PPPIA Chair Professor Keryln Carville and EPUAP Chair Professor Zena Moore both contributed extensively to the updated International Guideline and spoke at the launch about the worldwide pressure injury problem, the challenges of delivering the best care, and the valuable opportunities presented by a guideline with foundations in insights from experts from 40 countries. It was a great privilege to hear them speak. 

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM, Forward Ability Support Chief Clinical Advisor, spoke about the issue from a unique point of view: that of both clinician and patient. An emergency doctor at a Gold Coast Hospital, Dr Palipana lives with quadriplegia and experiences pressure injuries on both a personal and professional level. 

7News covers the story

WATCH THE VIDEO: video courtesy of 7News Orange and Lauren Evans, reporter 

Finally, Forward Ability Support CEO Melissa Decker closed the event, the audience for which included: University of Sydney Professor of Wound Care and Skin Integrity, Michelle Barakat-Johnson, Director of the Tissue Repair Institute and Skin Integrity Lead at the Sydney Local Health District Network; Network Manager of the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation's State Spinal Cord Injury Services, Ms Komal Adarkar; representatives from event sponsors and valued Wounds Australia Corporate Members Solventum and Mölnlycke; and clinicians from around the state. 

Upskilling in pressure injury prevention and care

A completely sold-out seminar marking the International Guideline launch took place in Sydney on 1 March, allowing the learning to continue. 

A huge thank you to Professor Keryln Carville for devising an incredible program featuring, in addition to Professor Carville, these international and Australian experts (in program order): 

• Dr Peta Tehan, Wounds Australia Board Director 
• Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM
• Margaret Banks, Director, Australian Commission on Quality and Safety in Health Care 
• Professor Emily Haesler, Guideline Methodologist 
• Professor Zena Moore, Chair – EPUAP 
• Tracy Nowicki of Queensland Health's CNC QuEST, and pressure injury educator 
• Associate Professor Sharon Latimer of Griffith University 
• University of Sydney Professor Michelle Barakat-Johnson 
• And Hayley Ryan, Wound CNC and former Wounds Australia Board Chair. 

More than 150 passionate and engaged delegates enjoyed a day of expert wisdom, evidence from research and insights from practice, plus networking with their peers and with a range of supportive exhibitors: 

• Coloplast 
• Convatec 
• Forward Ability Support | Bright Sky 
• HARTMANN 
• L&R Australia 
• LINET 
• Medstock 
• Mölnlycke 
• Smith+Nephew 
• Solventum 
• URGO 

Wounds Australia members: catch-up on demand

Couldn't join us? Wounds Australia members will be able to catch up on recordings from the seminar in the Webinar library in the member's area very soon. 

Download the guideline: internationalguideline.com