General Radiography at the RAH is heavily focused on our status of being the major Trauma Hospital for this state and one of the largest hospitals in the country. With this status, there is an expectation that Radiographers are proficient in Trauma Radiography and thinking on their feet. Trauma Radiography covers a range of injury levels. High Level 1 patients arrive in the ED Resuscitation rooms, Operating Theatres, and Intensive Care Units. These patients present with life-threatening injuries and the General Radiographer is included in the response team when they are in retrieval-mode.  Lower level trauma cases will either come to the Resuscitation rooms or to the Radiology Dept. for their images. Because our service provision is important for ED patients, we are located next-door to their Unit, and work very much in partnership with ED staff. We provide 24/7 shifts to ensure all Emergency patients are attended to promptly.

Apart from Trauma cases, it must not be taken lightly that a lot of our work is Chest Imaging. The cases that present to us can be very challenging for positioning and care, and reveal interesting pathologies. They play a critical role in diagnosis and treatment for our patients.

General Radiographers at the RAH tend to work fairly independently, determining appropriate positions, additional views and applying their skill-set to decision-making as they work. This especially applies after-hours and during the night shifts. Image interpretation is an essential skill for being a General Radiographer for this reason and we encourage this professionally.

Students doing Clinical Placement at the RAH are expected to become knowledgeable in Trauma Radiography, Chest Imaging variabilities and critiquing images for pathologies, but not exclusively. However, this provides a sound basis for adding to their skill-set in other Modalities at a later date.