Page 31 - ANZCP GAZETTE DECEMBER 2023

PERFUSIONISTS’ PROFILES
LIFE MEMBER - ARTHUR PREOVOLOS
By Darryl McMillan
I was given the honour of doing a little character assassination of Arthur at this year’s ASM dinner 2023, where Arthur was presented with life membership to our college. As a follow up, I have been asked to write a little something for the gazette on Arthur’s contribution to the College, Board and Perfusion.
After graduating university with a degree in science, Arthur started work in the biochemistry lab at the Alfred and soon realized that the lab wasn’t for him and decide to apply for an internal position for a trainee perfusionist in 1984. As it turns out the position had been vacated by the great Jim McMillan.
(Quoted from Jim Anderson) “Arthur has always been gifted in cultivating relationships with colleagues”. His intelligence and quick wit have always lent itself to making friends easily.
Arthur is a foundation fellow of the college and was a member of one of the two societies that would merge to form the Australasian body known as ASCVP. He has served in a variety of key positions on the executive and sub committees with merit, including editor of the Australasian Journal of Cardiovascular perfusion, the quest for professional recognition via registration and the pursuit for the first perfusion master’s degree through Swinburne university. In my opinion Arthur’s greatest contributions has been to the education of student perfusionists in Australia and New Zealand. He spent ten years on the board, three as a member, and seven as chairperson. As board chair he was constantly seeking improvement and funding for student education. Students at this time were learning their craft in the workplace and from board modules. Arthur recognized the need for students to meet each other while training, but more importantly to bring them together for several perfusion specialities that they would mostly only read about. He organised sessions on the feared viva examination along with mock exam papers. After experiencing hi fidelity simulation at Royal North Shore Sydney, he embraced it as the future for perfusion education. The use of simulation as a tool for education became a passion, which continued with his move to Medtronic’s where he established a simulation and training centre. Arthur has been involved in numerous meetings as coordinator or co-coordinator from organizing our ASM to several concept meetings for perfusion specialties such as ECMO, Simulation, Crisis management, and Autotransfusion to name but a few. Over the years Arthur has been a presenter and supporter of the ASM programs with his laid-back style
and appealing topics. It’s always a sinking feeling when you realize that you will follow him as the next speaker on the podium, and yes, I speak from experience. He can turn even the most mundane subject into a rather interesting topic.
Arthur is and has been an outstanding educational advocate; his efforts and enthusiasm in my opinion are equal too and perhaps may exceed that of the founding members of our educational board. In line with his college and board service he is also considered a leader in the clinical field, particularly ECMO and simulation. Arthur perfusion interest and knowledge is extensive including, Blood salvage, Mechanical Circulatory Support, IABP, ECMO, VAD, training, education, and simulation.
After the establishment of the Heart and Lung transplant program at the Alfred in 1988 which increased an interest in ECMO, in his endeavor to learn more and improve outcomes. He went off to spend some time with Luciano Gattinoni in Milan and Bob Bartlett in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He returned with a wealth of knowledge, which helped shape Alfred’s ECMO program. He became a go to resource for those of us attempting ECMO for the first time or dealing with occurring problems and there were lots of them in the early days. Arthur experienced a few firsts in his career at the Alfred, he flew to Perth to help retrieve a patient on a balloon pump in an RAAF Hercules. The patient was coming for a heart transplant. It was the Alfreds first successful patient retrieval for transplant. I suspect the balloon pump must have been an Avco seven, hence the need for a Hercules. Arthur and Dr Mark Buckman established ECMO in a young woman in a regional Victoria hospital. They subsequently transferred the patient via road ambulance to the Alfred for transplantation. Alfred’s first successful retrieval of a patient on ECMO.
After 28 years at the Alfred, Arthur decided it time for new challenges and accepted a position with Medtronic, Structural Heart Division 2012. He is not the first to make this transition into the corporate sector but has certainly been one of the most successful. During his current tenure at Medtronic, he was appointed as, a technical specialist responsible for training and education of perfusion products. Clinical product specialist and perfusion education and currently, Principal product specialist mechanical support team. All while still maintaining his ANZCP membership and ABCP certification by perfusing anywhere and as often as he could.
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