NSW launches dedicated institute to boost emergency care for injured children

Following the Bondi Beach terror attack and the Westfield Bondi Junction stabbings, New South Wales is establishing the NSW Institute for Paediatric Trauma at Sydney Children’s Hospital in Randwick. The institute will bring together medical staff, researchers and trauma experts to provide specialised training, simulations and long-term rehabilitation guidance for severely injured children. Health Minister Ryan Park said the initiative reflects the remarkable response of frontline workers to those events.

Guy Henry, co-director of trauma services, stressed that children’s injuries differ from adults and that regular mass-casualty exercises improve outcomes, citing the 2017 Manchester Arena drill as an example. Initially focused on Sydney, the program aims to roll out to regional NSW and the ACT, while also training pre-hospital responders. It will address psychological support for families and staff and draw on expertise from the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network and the Agency for Clinical Innovation’s Institute of Trauma and Injury Management, with philanthropic backing from the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Foundation.