Emergency Department
We deliver vital healthcare to some of the state’s most critically ill and injured adult patients.
Call triple 000 in an emergency
Find us on Level 2 of the Royal Adelaide Hospital
The RAH emergency department (ED) is one of the largest and most advanced in Australia, seeing more than 75,000 patients annually.
What we do
It is the complex multi-trauma destination for the state, with senior doctors and nurses on-site around the clock to respond to life-threatening emergencies.
The ED at the RAH is one of three adult major trauma services in SA and is served by a helipad which can accommodate up to two helicopters.
Clinical services
The RAH ED is the state’s major referral centre for:
- Intensive care
- Spinal injuries
- Neurosurgery
- Hyperbaric medicine
- Renal
- Burns
- Infectious diseases
- Reconstructive surgery.
In addition to supporting care for complex medical, surgical and cancer patients, the ED provides services for:
- mental health
- toxicology
- forensic sexual assault
- Ambulatory / same day emergency care.
While providing primarily Adult Emergency Care, the ED also maintains facilities to deliver emergency paediatric and obstetric care.
On-site specialist units
The RAH is the largest trauma centre for the state and is supported by these on-site specialist units:
- cardiothoracic
- neurosurgical
- orthopaedic
- burns
- spinal injuries
- hyperbaric medicine.
The Burns, Spinal and Hyperbaric units are the sole referral units for SA and the Northern Territory.
Patients should be referred to the ED with conditions requiring emergency care, undifferentiated or complex clinical presentations.
Patients requiring hospitalisation due to the exacerbation of a known condition and /or who are under the care of a RAH clinical team should be referred for direct admission through their treating team.
In an emergency always call triple zero (000).
About the ED
The ED is open 24 hours, seven days a week and is the ‘super-site’ for major emergencies in South Australia, such as burns, heart attacks and strokes.
In addition to trauma, the RAH can assess and treat a large number of people with:
- brain, nerve and spinal injuries
- cancer
- chest pain
- complex medical conditions including renal failure
- infectious diseases
- mental health conditions.
The ED also has a Forensic Privacy Suite for the assessment and care of sexual assault victims in conjunction with Yarrow Place.
Arrival and assessment
On arrival at the ED, patients will be assessed by senior clinicians in a ‘Quick Look’ area, enabling a prompt assessment of their illness or injury.
After being assessed, patients will then be directed to the most appropriate area for treatment, ensuring they receive the care they need as quickly as possible and reducing time spent in the waiting area.
Location and access
The ED is on Level 2C of the RAH, adjacent with Port Road.
TO ADD HERE
- Add about accessing and following ED signs to find it from Port Road including drop off zones outside
- Maps and transport links
- Open 24/7 - restrict bringing more than 1 person with you and all children to be supervised. For children's emergencies go to the WCHN ED (Link)
- Add link to Do you have an emergency? pages which outline alternatives including for mental health emergencies
The RAH ICU is a multidisciplinary team featuring consultants, registrars, nurses, and allied health specialists from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.
The ICU welcomes and fosters trainees and specialists from all backgrounds, with a strong emphasis on education and training as well as research and innovation.
ICU medical team
The ICU medical team is made up of consultants, registrars, trainees and medical students.
Consultants in the ICU come from a variety of specialities including anaesthesia, general medicine and emergency medicine, who have subsequently trained in intensive care, as well as dedicated ICU fellows that work in the department.
ICU nursing team
The Royal Adelaide Hospital intensive care unit nursing team consists of over 450 qualified intensive care clinicians, providing collaborative nursing care within a multidisciplinary team.
Find out more about how the nursing teams work to deliver for the complex needs of patients in the ICU.
Allied health team
Intensive care dietitians work with medical, nursing, and other allied health professionals, to optimise nutrition care and help support patient recovery.
ICU dietitians are specially trained to provide individualised therapeutic diets, and oral and artificial nutrition support, with recommendations adapted to the patients’ clinical condition and medical therapy.
RAH ICU dietitians also have a key role in leading clinically focused nutrition research and have extended scope of practice to place post-pyloric feeding tubes at the bedside.
Senior intensive care dietitians
Associate Professor Lee-anne Chapple
Email: lee-anne.chapple@sa.gov.au
Lee-anne is a Senior ICU Dietitian at the RAH and leads the Nutrition Research Program within the ICU. She is also a Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. She has a keen interest in understanding the impact of critical illness on nutrient utilisation, and the role of nutrition to improve patient recovery.
Elizabeth (Beth) Viner Smith
Email: Elizabeth.smith3@sa.gov.au
Beth is a Senior ICU Dietitian at the RAH and Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. Her clinical and research interests focus on improving nutrition delivery and outcomes, particularly for patients with complex care needs and addressing current nutrition challenges faced in the ICU.
Physiotherapists are key members of the ICU team who routinely review ICU patients during their stay.
The supportive therapies delivered by physiotherapists have been shown to enhance patient rehabilitation and outcomes during and after critical illness.
Physiotherapist treatments may involve:
- listening to the chest and helping to clear the lungs
- maintaining a range of limb movements and mobility in bed with stretches
- strengthening exercises and helping with movement, such walking and transfer out of bed into a chair. This is important when patients are unwell to prevent deconditioning during critical illness.
RAH ICU senior physiotherapist team
Ms Simone Dafoe
Ms Anna Threadgold
Mr Rocky Callisto
Nat Brown
Kelly Martin
The intensive care unit speech pathology service provides client-centred assessment and management of complex swallowing and communication difficulties in the critical care setting – caring for patients with multiple comorbidities and presenting aetiologies.
Speech pathologists work collaboratively as part of the multi-disciplinary team to provide timely and quality intervention, and in doing so contributes to optimising the patient journey. The goal is to achieve functional outcomes for patients in order to improve safety, independence and quality of life.
ICU speech pathologists have extended scope of practice training in Nasendoscopy and Videofluroscopy – providing instrumental assessment of swallowing and voice function.
As part of the ICU Tracheostomy Service, ICU speech pathologists contribute to multi-disciplinary decision-making around tracheostomy progression and provide specialist assessment and management of swallow and communication function.
The speech pathology team contribute to ICU research, education, and quality improvement initiatives, with tracheostomy management a key area of focus. As a member hospital of the Global Tracheostomy Collaborative, the Royal Adelaide ICU contributes tracheostomy outcome data, allowing international benchmarking.
Speech pathology team
Senior Speech Pathologist
Anne Gatley
Email: anne.gatley@sa.gov.au
Senior Speech Pathologist
Lee Pryor
Email: lee.pryor@sa.gov.au
Administration team
ICU secretary
Contact the ICU secretary to make appointments with ICU team members
Kelsie Nuer
Email: Kelsie.Nuer@sa.gov.au
Phone: 7074 1741
Medical rostering officer
Kristina Gabell
Email: Kristina.Gabell@sa.gov.au
Phone: 7074 1738
Nursing rostering
Contact Nurse managers for rostering queries
Stella Macdonald
Email: stella.macdonald@sa.gov.au
Mark Paltridge
Email: mark.paltridge@sa.gov.au
Phone: 0428 934 454
The Royal Adelaide Hospital intensive care unit is one of the major education and training providers for intensive care medicine in Australia and New Zealand.
Our expert clinicians and educators deliver a comprehensive accredited training program to doctors and nurses seeking advanced training in critical care.
Training in the ICU
The RAH ICU is accredited by the College of Intensive Care Medicine as a General/C24 training institution.
We are one of only two major tertiary/quaternary centres in South Australia accredited to provide:
- foundation training
- general/ core ICU training
- subspecialty training in neurosurgical ICU
- cardiac ICU and trauma care, and
- Fellowships (Transition year training).
We also routinely have rotational trainees and visiting international medical graduate trainees and specialists, who come to our unit to further develop their ICU experience and credentials.
See all current vacancies at the RAH, including the ICU.
Medical training
The ICU offers the following Fellowships (transition year training) positions:
Specialist ICU Education Fellowships
The ICU Education Fellowship coordinates the medical education training program and produces the RAH ICU Medical Education Report. The roles also facilitates attainment of post-graduate qualifications in clinical education and has ties to the ANZCEN Clinician Educator Incubator
Cardiac ICU Fellowships
The Cardiac ICU Fellowship interfaces with a robust echocardiography program that can help progress DDU and other echocardiography qualifications. They are also routinely involved in a dedicated echocardiography training course (coming soon) and an extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) training course (coming soon) that are coordinated by the department.
The Cardiac Fellow is also regularly involved with practical ultrasound and echocardiography skills training sessions that are conducted at the bedside in the ICU, as well as monthly echocardiography review meetings.
There are 6-10 Senior registrars in the trainee group who have a pivotal role in the effective running of the ICU.
Greater clinical autonomy and longitudinal responsibility of patient care allows our trainees to be charged with complex clinical tasks, lead roles in teaching, and the supervision of less experienced trainees.
All trainees are encouraged to have non-clinical interests, however Senior registrars are given opportunities to cultivate a discrete non-clinical portfolio, with many opportunities supported directly by members of the consultant group.
Some Senior registrar positions may also be allocated as Fellows (Transition Year), with education, cardiac and other specialty interest portfolios that can be negotiated, depending on the trainee.
Appointment to any of the Senior registrar positions is competitive and requires consideration of prior experience, clinical acumen and demonstration of leadership potential.
We believe that the combination of autonomy, higher level clinical tasks and support with non-clinical role development, provides our trainees with exceptional training opportunities that prepares them well to become well-rounded senior clinicians and consultants.
The designation of Senior registrar within the ICU may be independent of the CICM regulation definitions of a “Senior Registrar rotation”. Term accreditation can be discussed with Supervisors of Training prior to commencement to ensure that vocational training requirements are met.
The RAH ICU welcomes registrars and residents from a variety of levels and specialist training pathways, providing a robust training program that accounts for the breadth of specialists and experience levels of clinicians in the unit.
We have dedicated sessions for core ICU topics, evidence-based medicine (Journal Club), radiology tutorials, audit/quality improvement and review, and inter-disciplinary in-situ simulation training covering general ICU and ECMO scenarios.
Registrars and residents seeking ICU rotations are encouraged to discuss their training pathway with their supervisors of training and Medical Workforce.
Contact the ICU secretary to get access to our education program and weekly education newsletter.
Undergraduate and post-graduate medical students are frequently posted in the ICU and participate in the ICU education program, while also having a dedicated critical care training program schedule coordinated by an ICU consultant.
Seminal paper presentations
From 2024, we are providing up to date links to all seminal paper presentations for all ICU staff on Google Drive.
Nursing training
Nursing Education in the RAH ICU offers progressive, contemporary learning opportunities for the development of all levels of nursing staff. The team is located within the ICU, developing a close understanding of the development needs of individual nursing staff.
The Nurse Education Team consists of two Nurse Educators (RN3) and four Clinical Nurse Educators (CNE RN2 job share).
Induction into working within the RAH ICU for new nursing staff is developed and delivered by the Nurse Educators.
New nursing staff to RAH participate in Central Adelaide Local Health Network (CALHN) orientation and this is followed by a two-week ICU induction period.
The ICU induction consists of a dedicated ICU induction day, supernumerary patient care shifts, specific education sessions, workshops and supported clinical learning at the patient bedside.
The induction also introduces current patient data and workforce structure, addressing the National Safety & Quality Health Service Standards, fundamentals of care and foundations of intensive care nursing, ensuring new staff have the knowledge and skill set to be work ready.
Professional development pathways are designed to provide a structure for staff development.
Read more about the pathways in place for the nursing team:
Transition to Professional Practice Program Pathway
Each year we welcome a large cohort of graduate registered nurses in their first year of nursing undertaking the Transition to Professional Practice Program. They have a six-month placement in ICU with supported education and training
Registered Nurse Professional Development Pathway
This pathway is designed with learning activities which support developing clinical practice and preparedness for postgraduate specialisation studies
Critical Care Registered Nurse Pathway
The Critical Care Registered Nurse pathway supports postgraduate qualified registered nurses with development to extend their clinical and professional practice, leading into advanced roles such as Access Nurse (Team Leader) and Medical Emergency Response Team member.
In-service education program
The in-service education program is delivered Monday to Friday, during nursing double staff time.
There are several sessions each day addressing the learning needs of the whole team, junior and senior staff. The format includes traditional lecture style, case presentations, skills stations, and clinical deterioration simulation scenarios.
Professional Development Programs
There are many professional development programs for staff in ICU and Central Education.
Programs delivered by the nursing and multidisciplinary team include renal dialysis, ECMO and Cardiac ALS.
For more information, contact nurse educators:
Natalie Vinzcer
Email: natalie.vinzcer@sa.gov.au
Gigy Cherian
Email: gigy.cherian@sa.gov.au
At RAH ICU we partner with all three South Australian universities - The University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia - for postgraduate studies in critical care/intensive care nursing.
Currently, over 60% of RAH ICU nursing staff have postgraduate nursing qualifications in critical care nursing.
Completion of postgraduate critical care nursing studies leads to high acuity patient allocation and development into advanced nursing roles within ICU.
Undergraduate student placements
RAH ICU facilitates many pre-registration final year nursing student placements each year. The students are supported by a local ICU experienced clinical facilitator.
ICU placement provision
RAH ICU nursing education facilitates placements for registered nurses from a variety of metropolitan and regional health service organisations and international nurses, seeking intensive care unit exposure.
Courses
There are several courses conducted in South Australia that support intensive care skills training and contribute to continuing professional development. Numerous members of staff at the Royal Adelaide Hospital ICU serve in faculty positions including as convenors, course directors and instructors.
Most courses are reliant on cross-campus support across health networks and training sites. The collaborative delivery of courses is a key strength, ensuring attendees are exposed to a wide range of instructors with broad and extensive experience.
The courses listed are open to attendees across the State and Nationally, with increasingly high demand.
Richard Strickland - course co-ordinator
Nick Edwards - Course director
Mike Davies - course convenor
Kenneth Lee - course convenor
Contact for information and to register for this course.
Email: Kenneth.Lee@sa.gov.au
Michael Farquharson - Course director
Course information coming soon.
Amy Sanguesa - course convenor
Contact for information and to register for SAILS sessions.
Email: Amy.Sanguesa@sa.gov.au
The RAH ICU is renowned nationally for its leadership in ICU research, which includes supporting new investigators and spearheading international trials.
Projects cover a wide range, from trainee-led initiatives to multidisciplinary collaborations, with engagement in translational research and support for higher degree programs.
We have strong academic ties with institutions like the University of Adelaide and NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Translating Nutritional Science to Good Health.