Pete Lax, MBChB

Director of Trauma Anesthesiology

Dr. Pete Lax, MBChB (Hons), Dip SML, Dip RTM RCSEd, FRCA, FCICM, FIMC, is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Director of Trauma Anesthesiology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Dr. Lax is an anesthesiologist and intensivist whose clinical practice and academic interests span trauma anesthesiology, critical care medicine, acute resuscitation, prehospital emergency medicine, medical retrieval and transfer, and the perioperative care of critically ill and injured patients.

He graduated from the University of Leicester Medical School in 2005 and subsequently trained in anesthesiology, intensive care medicine and prehospital emergency medicine in the United Kingdom. In 2014, he completed a fellowship in Trauma Anesthesiology at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center, developing further expertise in the resuscitation and perioperative management of patients with major traumatic injury.

At Johns Hopkins, Dr. Lax provides anesthesia for a broad range of complex elective and emergency surgical procedures and practices as an intensivist in the surgical intensive care unit. As Director of Trauma Anesthesiology, his work focuses on the anesthetic and perioperative care of injured patients, multidisciplinary trauma care, education, and the development of systems that support effective responses to major injury and acute clinical deterioration.

Dr. Lax also has extensive experience in military, prehospital and retrieval medicine. He has served with the Royal Air Force Medical Services at the rank of Wing Commander and has provided anesthesia, critical care and medical retrieval in operational and austere environments across five continents. His work has included the transport of critically ill and injured patients and the delivery of advanced medical care in resource-constrained environments.

His educational interests include trauma and acute resuscitation, total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and target-controlled infusion (TCI), prehospital and retrieval medicine, human factors, and multidisciplinary team performance. At Johns Hopkins, he teaches residents and fellows and leads opportunities for anesthesiology residents to gain experience in prehospital emergency medical systems.

Dr. Lax's academic interests focus on improving care across the continuum of critical illness and injury—from prehospital care and retrieval through resuscitation, anesthesia, surgery and intensive care. He has particular interests in trauma systems, human factors, interprofessional education and the design of clinical systems that enable rapid, coordinated responses to critically ill and injured patients.

He is an author and educator in trauma care and is the editor of the Textbook of Acute Trauma Care. He has contributed to international trauma and life-support education, including the European Trauma Course. His work in trauma care has been recognized with the Lady Cade Medal, awarded by the Royal Air Force and Royal College of Surgeons of England.

• Royal College of Anaesthetists
• Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine
• Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh - Faculty of Pre Hospital Care