Disaster planning and preparedness

Emeritus Professor Gerry FitzGerald holds medical specialist qualifications in Emergency Medicine and Medical Administration and a Doctor of Medicine. He is currently an Emeritus Professor with the School of Public Health and Social Work at QUT and was previously the Director of the Emergency Department at Ipswich Hospital and one of the founders of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine. He served four years as national secretary and four years as Editor in Chief of the College journal. He was subsequently Medical Director and then Commissioner of the Qld Ambulance Service and Chief Health Officer for Qld.

Associate Professor Kim Johnston’s PhD researches communication issues associated with engagement, social impact and social license to operate across government, corporate, and the non-profit sectors, and leads the stakeholder engagement research group as part of the QUT Business School - Social and Business Engagement Research Centre. She is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Board Member of MNHHS (QH), and the RBWH Foundation.

Professor Vivienne Tippett is the Director of Research for the School of Clinical Sciences and Discipline Lead of the Paramedic Science program at QUT. Prior to joining QUT in 2012, she was the Director of the Australian Centre for Prehospital Research  (UQ and QAS). She has more than 25 years’ experience as a researcher and consultant in the emergency pre-hospital, disaster health and emergency health systems. Her work has been recognised with an OAM for services to medical education (2018) and a Distinguished Service medal from QAS (2012) for services to paramedic research. She is a Fellow of the Jamieson Trauma Institute at RBWH and the Lead Researcher for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC (2013-2020).  This research program was recognised with a CRC Association national award for research innovation (2019).