Our Guest Speaker - Francois Stapelberg, MBChB, FANZCA

Surviving Major Burns: What Is Possible, and Is It Worth the Pain of Survival?

Severe burns represent the most intense trauma that a human can experience, and hope to survive. Modern burn care has changed and given hope that was not thought previously possible, with advances in burn resuscitation, intensive care, surgery, wound care technologies, infection control and rehabilitation transforming the limits of survivability after major burn injury.

Survival, however, is not a single outcome. It may be accompanied by severe procedural and neuropathic pain, disfigurement, functional impairment, psychological trauma, social isolation and a profound disruption of identity. The question is therefore no longer simply, “Can this patient survive?” but also, “What might survival mean for this person?”

The provocative question—whether survival is “worth” the pain—cannot be predicted or answered reliably by clinicians at the bedside. Early predictions of an unacceptable quality of life may differ substantially from the later perspectives of survivors, whose priorities, expectations and adaptation evolve over time. Conversely, survival statistics can obscure enduring pain, disability, moral distress and unmet psychosocial needs.

This presentation will examine what is currently possible following major and extensive burns, as well as highlight some of the future technologies being developed, including in New Zealand and Australia.

Dr Francois Stapelberg is a specialist anaesthetist, ANZBA president, and Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, he works in public and private practice and serves as a clinical senior lecturer at the University of Auckland. He is the clinical lead for burn anaesthesia at the New Zealand National Burn Service, working within the multidisciplinary burn team at Middlemore Hospital, where he has practiced for over 25 years.

His involvement in burn care began during his undergraduate training in South Africa, where he managed severely injured patients in resource-constrained environments. As a key clinician treating survivors of the Whakaari White Island eruption, he possesses unique insights into disaster preparedness. To improve burn education globally, he collaborates with Australian state burn services, the Australian Defence Force, and NATO partner countries to address potential geopolitical challenges and strengthen relationships between clinicians, researchers, and survivors.