Associate Professor Pierre Bradley is a specialist anaesthetist based in Melbourne, Australia, with more than 30 years of experience in medicine and more than two decades in specialist anaesthetic practice. He divides his time between public practice at The Alfred and private practice, principally at Epworth HealthCare and also at Cabrini, Melbourne Private, Warringal Private, The Avenue and John Fawkner Private hospitals, and holds an adjunct academic appointment at Monash University.
His clinical practice focuses on the perioperative care of high-risk adult patients undergoing vascular, neurosurgical, trauma and interventional radiology procedures. He has particular interests in airway management, awake craniotomy, perioperative medicine, and the anaesthetic management of patients with advanced disease, frailty and complex comorbidity.
Before specialising in anaesthesia, Associate Professor Bradley gained experience in emergency medicine, cardiology, endocrinology, intensive care, flight retrieval medicine and general medicine. His training and clinical work have spanned Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, including time at the tri-service military hospital at Frimley Park and an elective placement at the former British Military Hospital on Wylie Road, Hong Kong. His clinical background includes retrieval medicine, regional healthcare, major trauma and uncommon presentations, including crocodile attacks in northern Australia and coordinating the care of a shark attack victim at Minerva Reef before retrieval by the New Zealand Navy.
Associate Professor Bradley has held several leadership positions within the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), including Chair of the Airway Management Group. He has contributed to the development of professional standards and guidelines, including PS56 (Equipment to Manage Difficult Airways), PS61 (Management of Evolving Airway Obstruction and CICO) and PS18A (Intravenous Access and Blood Pressure Monitoring in Patients with Previous Axillary Node Dissection), and he led the team that wrote ANZCA’s guidance on operating room fires (PS55 Minimum Safe Facilities, Appendix 3). He is a member of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council (Safer Care Victoria), and has served on the ANZCA Provisional Fellowship Program Sub-Committee, which accredits advanced anaesthesia training positions internationally, and as the Australian Medical Association representative on the ANZCA Victorian Regional Council.
His interests extend to airway education, simulation, human factors and patient safety. He has contributed to the development of national airway training programs, including NATCAT, and coordinated the ANZCA ASM Airway Workshops in Singapore in 2014, involving more than 900 participants and international faculty. He was instrumental in developing and implementing a standardised difficult airway trolley that has been adopted across multiple Victorian hospital networks, including Epworth HealthCare, St Vincent’s Private and Ramsay’s Warringal Hospital.
Associate Professor Bradley has presented nationally and internationally on airway management and perioperative care, including at the World Airway Management Meetings (Dublin 2015 and Amsterdam 2019), the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, the Royal College of Anaesthesiologists of Thailand, and the Combined Scientific Meeting of ANZCA and the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists. He has authored and reviewed numerous publications, guidelines and educational resources, and continues to contribute to patient safety, airway management and perioperative care through clinical practice, education, research and professional leadership.
Outside medicine, he maintains a longstanding interest in rugby and has been involved with the medical teams of the Wallabies, Wallaroos, Melbourne Rebels and Melbourne Unicorns. He also volunteers with the Lorne Pier to Pub medical team and takes part in community and international education initiatives.