BSc(Hons) BMBS(Hons) FACEM FRACGP FACRRM FACHSM DipRGA, Consultant Emergency and Retrieval Physician, Colonel, RAAMC (Reserve)
Dr Ben Butson is an Emergency, Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Physician based in Townsville, North Queensland. He recently retired from long standing positions as an Emergency Physician at the Townsville University Hospital and as the Director of Northern Operations for LifeFlight Retrieval Medicine. He is an experienced pre-hospital and retrieval consultant, having co-ordinated or conducted many hundreds of aeromedical retrieval missions, including primary response rescue missions. He has decades of experience in pre-hospital and retrieval work in the Australian civilian as well as the deployed military environment. He is a Colonel in the Army Reserve, having graduated from the Australian Defence Force Academy and then the Royal Military College, Duntroon in 1991. He has served abroad in East Timor, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan and Iraq on multiple tours. He currently works as a Senior Medical Officer in Anaesthetics at the Mount Isa Base Hospital. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the James Cook University School of Medicine where he assists in the delivery of pre-hospital and aeromedical retrieval courses. He has worked for several years in a voluntary capacity to provide medical advice to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority as well as for State and Territory police search and rescue services. He is an avid outdoorsman with a lifetime of experience in the Australian bush and coastlines.
