ARMY (Canberra, Australia) 10 July 08 Edition 1193 page 8. Venom work awarded. (Barry Rollings)
The accolades have been handed out but the work is ongoing for Lt-Col Geoff Newman-Martin, winner of a 2008 Defence Occupational Health and Safety Award.
The awards were presented at Russell Offices in Canberra on June 12. Lt-Col Newmann-Martin won the award for Best Individial Contribution to Health and Safety for his three volume Manual of Envenomation and Poisoning – Australian Fauna and Flora.
The manual, launched in July last year, was the product of 15 years of work by Lt-Col Newman-Martin.
Now employed with the Defence Centre for Occupational Health, a newly created unti within the OHS and Compensation Branch, Lt-Col Newmann-Martin’s background was as an organic chemist.
“My work experience over many years was in regulatory toxicology and then I developed an interest and expertise in toxicology,” he said.
“The manual could be described as clinical toxinology, a bio-medical book linking biological science with medicine, which aims to give doctors, nurses, medics, and all of the allied health professionals a complete reference work to use when people are stung, bitten and poisoned.
“There has been a strong demand for the publication; it’s the only manual that has been published about what’s here in Australia and what do we do about it.”
There is plenty ahead for Lt-Col Newmann-Martin.
“I have discovered that there is no definitive collection of diagnostic photographs of these creatures, which have artistic and scientific merit, though you can get text books with rather poor-quality photos. I aim to add a fourth volume to this which will contain a scientifically arranged collection of recognition photos,” he said.
“My hope is to go on and do more in this field. There are always new ideas. The field of clinical toxinology is always changing with new treatments, scientific studies with how species envenomate people and new first aid treatments.”
Venom work awarded