When a critically injured casualty cannot reach definitive care quickly, the clinical challenge changes.
The first interventions still matter, but so does everything that follows: repeated assessment, continuing treatment, limited supplies, worsening fatigue and decisions that may need to hold for hours or even days.
Taking place at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria from 28th September – 2nd October 2026, this five-day Prolonged Field Care Course prepares healthcare professionals for exactly this kind of challenge.
Developed from more than four years of World Extreme Medicine Fund (WEMF) deployments and trauma training in Ukraine, the course brings operational experience into a practical UK training environment.
What is prolonged field care?
Prolonged field care, also referred to as prolonged casualty care, is the continued management of an injured or critically unwell person when evacuation to definitive medical care is delayed or unavailable.
In conventional settings, clinicians may be supported by established referral pathways, specialist teams, diagnostic equipment and rapid transport. In remote, austere or disrupted environments, many of those systems may be limited or absent.
Evacuation can be delayed by distance, terrain, extreme weather, damaged infrastructure, security conditions, limited transport or communication failure. Initial stabilisation may therefore become the beginning of a much longer period of care.
Clinicians must continue to assess the casualty, monitor for deterioration, prioritise interventions, manage supplies and adapt their plan as the situation develops. Effective prolonged casualty care requires clinical knowledge, logistical awareness, teamwork and the ability to make considered decisions under sustained pressure.
Training shaped by real deployments
The Prolonged Field Care Course has been built from the World Extreme Medicine Fund’s experience delivering trauma training in active conflict zones across Ukraine.
Faculty members bring direct experience from conflict, humanitarian and austere environments, allowing teaching to reflect the genuine challenges encountered when resources are restricted and evacuation cannot be taken for granted.
That operational experience informs realistic scenarios, practical workshops and group decision-making exercises throughout the course.
Participants will need to consider more than the immediate injury. They will be challenged to think about what the casualty may need next, which resources must be preserved, how their condition could change and how a team can continue to perform as time, uncertainty and fatigue increase.
What will you develop during the course?
The five-day programme explores the medical, logistical and human factors involved in prolonged field care.
Through practical training and realistic scenarios, participants will work on their ability to:
- Sustain casualty assessment and monitoring over an extended period
- Recognise deterioration and adapt a care plan as conditions change
- Prioritise interventions when equipment and supplies are limited
- Make clinical decisions without immediate access to definitive care
- Manage the logistical demands of prolonged casualty care
- Communicate clearly and work effectively within a team
- Maintain situational awareness during complex, evolving incidents
- Understand how fatigue and pressure influence performance
- Prepare a casualty and team for delayed or uncertain evacuation
The emphasis is placed on combining clinical care with adaptability, communication and practical problem-solving.
Learning through realistic scenarios
Prolonged field care cannot be fully explored through classroom teaching alone.
Training at Muncaster Castle takes place both indoors and outdoors, with field-based scenarios designed to reflect the uncertainty and practical constraints of remote casualty care.
Cumbria’s changeable conditions provide an effective setting in which to consider environmental exposure, personal kit, casualty protection, team welfare and the physical demands of continuing care.
The objective is not simply to complete a single clinical task. Participants must monitor the wider situation and understand how each decision affects the casualty, the team and the remaining resources.
Who is the Prolonged Field Care Course for?
This course has been designed for healthcare professionals and others involved in remote or austere medical care.
It is particularly relevant to:
- Paramedics, nurses and other pre-hospital clinicians
- Healthcare professionals preparing for humanitarian deployments
- Expedition and wilderness medicine practitioners
- Clinicians working in remote or resource-limited environments
- Medical professionals supporting high-risk operations
- Those interested in disaster, conflict or humanitarian medicine
A good level of general fitness is recommended because the programme includes extended practical sessions and outdoor training.
Residential training at Muncaster Castle
The course is based at Muncaster Castle in the Western Lake District, close to Ravenglass.
Residential accommodation and meals are included from the beginning of the course until after lunch on the final day. This allows participants to remain immersed in the programme while building relationships with fellow attendees and faculty.
Rooms are primarily shared, with a limited number of single-occupancy rooms available for an additional charge.
At the end of the programme, participants will receive a certificate of attendance recognising their training in prolonged casualty care within complex, real-world settings.
Professional development with a wider purpose
The impact of this course extends beyond the participants attending it.
All profits directly support the World Extreme Medicine Fund’s humanitarian medical work, including trauma training, medical support and the delivery of essential equipment in Ukraine.
Each booking therefore contributes to two connected goals: preparing more healthcare professionals to operate effectively when conventional support is unavailable and helping frontline medical teams continue delivering care under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
Prolonged Field Care Course details
Location: Muncaster Castle, Cumbria, UK
Dates: 28th September – 2nd October 2026
Format: Five-day residential course
Course fee: £1,495
Included: Tuition, practical workshops, field scenarios, accommodation, meals and a certificate of attendance
When evacuation is delayed, good casualty care must be sustained long after the initial emergency response.
The Prolonged Field Care Course provides an opportunity to examine that challenge in depth, learn from operational experience and develop the clinical, logistical and human skills required to continue making sound decisions when every decision counts.
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