William Middleton Griggs, AM, ASM is a retired Australian Critical Care physician specialising in Major trauma, Disaster response, and Pre-hospital emergency medicine.
[11][12] Griggs is the author of more than 75 publications and was described by Governor Hieu Van Le as "The face of trauma care and retrieval medicine in South Australia".
[citation needed] As a major trauma specialist, Griggs frequently was called upon by the Australian Defence Force to aid in disaster relief, often assisting in Aeromedical evacuation.
[15] "Griggs technique" has since become more prevalent in the field of trauma medicine and was performed on Pope John Paul II when he experienced breathing issues in 2005.
[18] He also worked for the South Australian Ambulance Service from the early 1980s with his current role being a volunteer Rural and Remote Emergency Network medical responder.
[19] In 1994 Griggs deployed to Bougainville as one of five members to provide surgical support as part of the South Pacific Peacekeeping Force during talks in Arawa.
Within Indonesia he operated as one of a four person aeromedical evacuation team along with other military personnel with significant trauma response experience.
[21][22] Griggs played an active role in the Australian medical response to the 2002 Bali bombings, helping to coordinate the evacuation of those injured in the attack through Darwin to the Major Trauma and Burns Units all around Australia.
[17] In 2010, Griggs was chosen to appear on the cover of the 2010/2011 Adelaide White Pages under the theme "Courageous Australians" as a result of an rescue “under fire” in 1994 where he saved the life of Police Officer Derrick McManus who had been shot 14 times during a siege in the Barossa.