Dr. Dina Tuitama: The intensive care workforce in Samoa [World Congress of Intensive Care 2019] [V2]

** Lecture - World Congress of Intensive Care 2019, Wed 16th Oct, Melbourne, Australia **
#### The intensive care workforce in Samoa: running on empty ####

Dr. Dina Tuitama, MBBS, PGDipAnaes, is a Senior #Medical Officer and former Head of Department for the Intensive Care Unit, Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital, Apia, Samoa. Based in #Samoa, Dina has a background and passion for #Anaesthetics and #IntensiveCare.

In 2015, under the leadership of Dr David Galler, and a group of committed colleagues, she helped set up and sustained the first Intensive Care Unit for Samoa, which catered for all ages from neonates to geriatric population. In the first year of having an #ICU, the mortality rate amongst critical patients dropped from 80% to less than 20%.

Despite not having any formal training in intensive care, she was able to continue leading the Intensive Care Service for Samoa from 2016 as the Head of Department and Intensivist. In this role she continued the setting up, teaching, and monitoring of an Early Warning System not only within the main hospital but also across all the health centers in the country. Furthermore, she was able to create a support network of intensivists from across the Asia-Pacific Region, connecting via simple Viber messenger to gain immediate expert and specialist support for patient management and ongoing clinical teaching for all medical staff in ICU.

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