Professor Robert Myles Gibson OBE
The British Association for Immediate Care (BASICS) was saddened to learn of the death of Professor Robert (Myles) Gibson OBE.
Professor Gibson was a highly respected British neurosurgeon who played a pioneering role in the development of modern pre-hospital care in the United Kingdom. Born in Scotland, he qualified in medicine at the University of Glasgow and went on to establish a distinguished career in neurosurgery, serving as a Consultant Neurosurgeon in Leeds from 1960 to 1992. Outside his clinical practice, he served as a Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and held the Territorial Decoration (TD). He was appointed Honorary Neurosurgeon to both the British Army and the Royal Household.
Beyond his neurosurgical achievements, Professor Gibson was particularly significant to the pre-hospital care community as the founder and patron of the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, which was established in 1996. He championed the concept that care delivered at the scene of injury or illness should be integrated with hospital-based emergency and trauma services, helping to shape pre-hospital medicine into a recognised specialty. His work helped advance the understanding that early intervention before hospital arrival could significantly improve outcomes for seriously injured patients. He also helped develop the Glasgow Come Scale and was a significant figure in developing medical response within professional football.
Within BASICS, Professor Gibson received the Chairman’s Award (formerly the BASICS Award) in 1991. He later received the prestigious Asmund S. Laerdal Award in 1995. The latter recognises exceptional service over a significant period of time with recipients contributing to the advancement of the practice of pre-hospital immediate care through research, education, leadership or innovation.
Professor Gibson’s influence on emergency medicine and trauma care remains evident today through the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care’s education, standards, examinations and research programmes. In recognition of his enduring contribution, the Royal College’s prestigious Gibson Chair Professorship is named in his honour.
The thoughts of everyone at BASICS are with Professor Gibson’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.