WEM Marketing Dept, Author at worldextrememedicine.com

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Meet the team behind our NEW and exciting Alpine Medicine course

7th November 2019WEM Marketing DeptExpedition & Wilderness Medicine, Expedition Medicine, Expedition Nursing, mountain medicineNo CommentsAlpine medicine, expedition medicine, mountain medicine, WEM Faculty

Our outstanding teaching faculty for the NEW and exciting Alpine Medicine training expedition course taking place in the stunning Julian Alps in Slovenia brings with them a huge array of Everest, Polar and Mountain Rescue experience. They are perfectly placed to share their unique knowledge and skills with you and ensure by the time you leave this course you will have an inclusive understanding of winter mountaineering skills, advanced expedition medicine skills, altitude and cold weather medicine.

Meet the expert team who will be delivering an unrivalled syllabus of expedition medicine content:

Dr Rich Wain-Hobson – Alpine Medicine Course Lead

Dr Rich Wain-Hobson - WEM faculty Born in a dark corner of North Wales, Rich spent his childhood exploring Snowdonia with his Dad. An offer to study at Peninsula Medical School took him to the South West, and he hasn’t looked back.

Since then he has developed an interest in expedition and remote medicine which has seen him planning, supporting and leading expeditions in over 60 countries, including both polar regions.

He spends every spare moment outside climbing, ski touring, mountain biking, and surfing. He has spent a winter season in Austria and the Southern Alps of New Zealand, as well as other notable adventures such as bouncing down Africa in an old Land Rover, multi-day dog sledding in Arctic Norway, being one of the first people to mountain bike in the Simien mountains in Ethiopia, and driving from Western Ireland to Eastern Siberia for charity.

Rich has studied Tropical Medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and has worked in hospitals in Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi and Nepal, as well as Sri Lanka after the tsunami. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and has a passion for encouraging others to explore and enjoy the outdoors.

Rich has just got back from a year in NZ and is looking forwards to pastures new… He is currently working as a GP and an EM Middle Grade doctor.

Dr Isla Madeleine Wormald – Emergency Medicine Specialist Registrar

Dr Isla Madeleine Wormald - WEM faculty Isla is a Yorkshire lass living in Sheffield, UK where she is a locum Emergency Medicine SpR.

She was formerly doctor for the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association & GB Junior Lead Climbing & Bouldering Teams.

Born & raised by two teacher parents, an enthusiasm for education runs in her blood and in addition to being a WEM faculty member, Isla is an AWLS instructor & helped deliver the first UIAA / ICAR / ISMM Nepal DiMM.

Isla’s expedition medicine experience includes:

Doctor for BSES Arctic Adventure 2011 expedition to Svalbard
CMO for Leeds Metropolitan University Himalayan Research Expedition 2011
SMO for BSES Arctic Odyssey 2012 Expedition to Loppa Peninsula of Norway
Challenge Medic for three Action Challenge Kilimanjaro Summit Challenges
Doctor for Action Challenge “London 2 Paris 24” 2013
CMO for Medex Manaslu 2015 Expedition
Challenge Doctor for Skyline Events Great Wall Discovery Trek 2018
Doctor for Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions 2019

Isla has a passion for outdoor pursuits and can usually be found scaling snow-capped peaks or undertaking pedal-powered adventures! She is a holder of the Mountain Training Association Summer Mountain Leader & PADI Open Water Diver awards and is an aspirant Winter Mountain Leader & British Association of International Mountain Leaders International Mountain Leader.

Hannah Kittson, Emergency Medicine Registrar

Hannah Kittson, Emergency Medicine Registrar Hannah is an Emergency Medicine Registrar in the East of England, but mostly wishes she was in the mountains. She is a qualified Mountain Leader, and aspirant International Mountain Leader, having been involved in expeditions with school groups for many years.

When she’s not working on her Diploma in Mountain Medicine and Tropical Medicine, you can find Hannah involved in providing medical cover for multiple, often remote, outdoor sports events including ultra-marathons, open water swimming, triathlons and mountain biking.

If that’s not enough, when she’s not in the mountains, Hannah will often be found at Silverstone where she works regularly as a motorsport doctor.

Join us this February; learn with this incredibly experienced and knowledgeable team, and be part of something amazing. Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

4 fantastic reasons to choose our Alpine Medicine course

29th October 2019WEM Marketing DeptExpedition & Wilderness Medicine, Expedition Medicine, mountain medicineNo CommentsAlpine medicine, slovenia, training

Our NEW 6-day Alpine Medicine medical training expedition in the stunning Julian Alps, Slovenia is designed to open the world of expedition medicine to doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical professionals wanting to add adventure into their career. So, if you’re keen to support expeditions in cold, mountainous environments or simply be better prepared for your own winter mountain adventures – this is the course for you!

4 excellent reasons to choose our Alpine Medicine course:

Earn CPD credits and further your career – add more adventure to your career and bring new challenges by learning and enhancing your knowledge and skill set to ensure you are in the best possible position to further your career. For those attending and completing the course, accreditation will be offered (we estimate 34 hours of CPD) through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Alpine medicine topics explained – across the 6 days you’ll cover a broad range of topics including winter mountaineering and expedition skills, public health in mountain environments, expedition and emergency planning, altitude and cold weather injury, wilderness trauma and medical and rescue scenarios, as well as having the unique opportunity to hear inspiring ‘real-life’ stories from our mountain loving faculty.
Practical hands on experience – throughout your time with us, there will be various preparatory workshops and skill sessions on field-proven techniques to inspire and enhance your skills; helping you to become a more effective and highly valued practitioner of cold weather medicine.
Expert faculty – between them our remarkable expert team have a depth of knowledge and experience, living and working in the most remote corners of the world, achieving notable success in the face of extreme challenge and adversity.

WEM Faculty Jamie Pattison describes what the WEM Alpine Medicine Course is all about, the skills you’ll learn as well as showcasing the stunning environment you’ll be immersing yourself in.

Join us and experience our Alpine Medicine course for yourself. Be part of something amazing and take your extreme medicine career to the next level.

Book your place today!

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Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

NEW Alpine Medicine Course: take your medical career in a new direction

29th October 2019WEM Marketing DeptAlpine Medicine, Expedition & Wilderness Medicine, Expedition Doctor, Expedition Medicine, Expedition Nursing, mountain medicineNo CommentsAlpine medicine, expedition, expedition medicine, mountain medicine, training course

If you’re a medic keen to support expeditions in cold, mountainous environments or simply be better prepared for your own winter mountain adventures then our exciting 6-day Alpine Medicine training expedition, in the stunning Julian Alps is for you!

Making the most of the winter conditions, this comprehensive medical training expedition brings together likeminded medics from a variety of backgrounds and career stages all sharing the same common desire – to bring more adventure into their careers and blend their passion for travel, adventure and the great outdoors with their medical skills.

This new course blends winter mountaineering skills, advanced expedition medicine skills, altitude and cold weather medicine through a mix of engaging short, focused lectures and hands-on intense case-based scenarios. Throughout the course you will be encouraged in new ways of thinking and new approaches to problem solving as well as challenging your abilities to adapt to unpredictable situations – a must-have when taking on any type of expedition.

We’ll start by getting to know each other during a big kit session, discussing the benefits and drawbacks of different items, what to pack and how to best equip yourself for you adventures. Over the next two days you’ll learn essential clinical skills and environmental factors specific to cold and mountainous environments, this learning will be interspersed with simulation exercises. As your skill and adaptability within the exercises grows, so will the complexity of the tasks.

Midway through the course we will travel to Vogel ski area for a full day of avalanche training and snow science with world-class IFMGA Guides. Here you’ll learn about the types of avalanches, how they form and release, avalanche terrain, decision making and route planning, and the essential skills needed for avalanche rescue.

The final two days of the course will take us out into the mountains including an overnight stay at Dom na Komni (a Komna hut). This mini-expedition phase will include the opportunity to learn or enhance your technical mountain skills from some of Slovenia’s best guides. During this phase you’ll also have further opportunities to run through simulation exercises, bringing together everything you have learnt over the week.

By the end of the course you’ll have learnt a wide range of mountain skills and expedition mountain medicine, but most importantly you’ll be better equipped to deal with emergency situations in remote mountain areas.

Where else in the world could you receive such hands-on experience, be part of a unique learning opportunity and have an adventure of a lifetime. To find out more and to experience our Alpine Medicine course for yourself, please click here.

Take your EXTREME medical career to the next level – book your place today!
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Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Alpine Medicine Course: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

24th October 2019WEM Marketing DeptAlpine Medicine, Expedition & Wilderness Medicine, Expedition Doctor, Expedition Medicine, Expedition Nursing, mountain medicineNo CommentsAlpine medicine, expedition medicine, mountain medicine, slovenia

We asked our remarkable WEM faculty, many of who have a depth of experience, living and working in the most remote corners of the world, achieving notable success in the face of extreme challenge and adversity the most frequently asked questions they get asked regarding our NEW Alpine Medicine course.

What will I learn?
The main focus of the medical content will be around casualty care in winter mountain and alpine settings. You’ll learn essentials skills for assessing and treating patients, mechanisms of injury, scene safety and evacuation. Much of your learning will happen through hands on scenarios which will evolve in complexity as the course progresses, this will be backed up with lecture content and essential mountain skills, including a full day of avalanche training with world-class IFMGA guides.

Do I need to be a skier to attend?
No, the majority of past participants have not been experienced backcountry skiers. For those that have the skills, we are often able to supply skis and boots to allow you the chance to have some fun on the mountain.

Will ‘normal’ skiing clothing be ok?
Your typical piste skiing kit won’t be appropriate for this course due to the conditions and activity you’ll be doing out on the mountains. When ascending mountains, you’ll work up quite a sweat and so will need adaptable layers, high quality base layers, thin fleeces and a high quality shell layer is best. Once you stop moving, you’ll want a warm down or synthetic jacket to keep you nice and toasty. It’s important to ensure you are adequately equipped to deal with the cold conditions.

I’ve not done one of your courses before, can I still join?
This all comes down to your own experience – if you’re a competent hillwalker/climber with good knowledge of kit, navigation and are capable of looking after yourself in a remote setting, then yes.

Ok, so I don’t have those skills, what should I do?
Our four or five day Expedition & Wilderness Medicine courses are a great introduction as a first-timer to a remote medicine course. You’ll also want to clock up some time improving your outdoor skills, with navigation as your number one priority. Safely being able to navigate your way through an adventure, or out of trouble, will allow you to push into more demanding terrain and face more challenging conditions.

I’m new to medicine is this for me?
If you love the outdoors, especially mountainous environments then yes. Our practical workshops and simulated exercises throughout the course will bring a new level of challenge due to the environment and limited resources, so anything you can do to boost your confidence in high pressure and emergency settings the better.

Do we get to summit any mountains?
We are hoping to build in that kind of objective, but this depends on many factors. While we aim to pack as much adventure as we can into our courses, we recognise that the biggest value is in the training itself. If you’d like to extend your stay for your own adventures we work with the fantastic people at www.triglavguides.com for all our Slovenia based adventures who would be happy to help you.

If you want to open up your medical career and mix adventure into your career, then this is the course for you!

To find out more information about our Alpine Medicine course or to book your place on what we promise will be an incredibly inspiring 6 days in Slovenia, please click here.

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Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

What is Jungle Medicine?

19th September 2019WEM Marketing DeptJungle medicineNo CommentsJungle medicine

In a diverse environment that has the capacity to be both extremely dangerous and beautiful at once, Jungle Medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that refers to the practical application of medicine within a jungle environment.

It encompasses a number of sub-specialities such as tropical health, pre-hospital medicine, primary medicine and expedition or wilderness medicine, in combination with the essential non-medical skills required to care for sick or injured people in a jungle environment. As a medic working within a jungle environment, you need to be able to identify that the symptoms presented suggest a tropical disease, and from that evaluation, be able to understand what that means for the person i.e. managing their symptoms or in extreme circumstances CASEVAC (casualty evacuation).

Why is Jungle Medicine needed?
With more people starting to travel, work and explore these distinctive regions across the globe, the need for medics with a unique range of medical and practical skills becomes even more important. As well as being one of the most difficult and extreme terrains in the world, the jungle is also home to a number of dangerous wildlife inhabits, including 17 species of snakes; seven of which can be deadly, plus scorpions, spiders, and other diverse wildlife.

It’s also important to note that population surges, as well as other inter-related factors such as globalisation, climate change and urbanisation, are challenges we need to consider when thinking about and entering a remote and tropical environment. Isolated and exotic locations are often lacking public health infrastructure, which means basic healthcare such as having safe water and adequate sanitation are real risks to the traveller and potentially could contribute to the spread of dangerous infectious diseases upon their return.

What skills do you need to practice Jungle Medicine?
Due to its diverse and challenging location, the practice of medicine within a jungle environment requires a unique set of skills to be able to:

Navigate
Create fire and cook
Build adequate shelter
Survive and thrive in such an extreme environment
Provide medical care
Understand endemic diseases

Who practices Jungle Medicine?
With many tropical and jungle research expeditions and projects taking place in developing countries, where medical facilities are either non-existent or poor, it is vital that there are medical professionals on the ground with the practical skills, knowledge and understanding needed to perform in highly complex and demanding situations.

Alongside the skills already gained from such fields as pre-hospital medicine and primary healthcare, medics will also need to know how to manage envenomation (exposure to a poison or toxin from a bite or sting), have practical survival skills to support both themselves and their party, logistical knowledge and be able to identify and manage symptoms of tropical disease relevant to their environment.

The future of Jungle Medicine
As the environment becomes incrementally more extreme, more accessible to the wider population for exploration, and open to inter-related challenges such as climate change and globalisation, demand is now dictating the need to take a holistic and interdisciplinary approach when thinking about practising medicine in these new and unfamiliar terrains.

The planning and execution of self-care and the care for others are vital lessons to be learnt in this environment – attention to detail is key!

Introducing the World Extreme Medicine Jungle Medicine Course
Due to the importance of this subject and with such growing demand for medical skills in this field, as remote locations are more accessible, we have developed an exciting and comprehensive Jungle Medicine course for all those medical professionals responsible for clients, patients or team members in a sub-tropical or jungle environment.

This course is open and ideal for all Medical and Allied Health Professionals as well as medical students in their final year of study. This interesting subject is explored in great depth by an expert faculty and will provide practical survival skills, an overview of tropical medicine, logistical knowledge and pre-hospital skills required on a jungle expedition that can then be utilised in real-life situations.

The course enables attendees to:

Increase their knowledge about Jungle Medicine and equip medics with practical survival skills, an overview of tropical medicine, logistical knowledge and pre-hospital skills required on a jungle expedition all while immersed in the environment.
Acquire and develop specific survival skills for Jungle Medicine and standard operating procedures applicable to a jungle environment
Develop leadership and decision making skills required when working in resource-limited environments
Enhance knowledge and skills relating to understanding, diagnosing and treating heat-related illness and hydration
Improve environmental awareness enabling a greater ability to plan, risk assess and set yourself up for successful expeditions in one of the world’s most challenging climates

Through fully immersive learning, deep in the stunning tropical rainforests of Costa Rica, this action-packed course provides both hands-on practical and theory-based elements and will give you an appreciation of how triple canopy can affect casevac, navigation, planning & execution of care. You’ll learn a range of survival and camp skills that are vitally important, including water treatment and methods of making water potable, minor & major wound care, hydration and how to avoid dehydration. We also teach fundamental skills of how to treat snake bites and other wildlife injuries, plus public health and self-care principles that are crucial in this environment where small blisters or sores can end your travels early if not dealt with properly.

Find out more about our Jungle Medicine course here, and if you need a little more convincing that this is the course for you, read our other Jungle Medicine related blogs which will reaffirm why this course is what you need to #BeExtreme.

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Thinking of a Jungle-based medical career?

5th September 2019WEM Marketing DeptJungle medicineNo Commentscareer development, Jungle medicine, Jungle Medicine Training Course

Join us in the stunning Costa Rican tropical rainforest for a fully immersive, action packed jungle experience. This thrilling, practical 7-day course gives you the opportunity to experience and become fully immersed in a jungle environment. You’ll kick off your epic adventure by white water rafting into camp, trek through the jungle taking in the beautiful scenery, as well as experience an overnight stay in your own self-made camp.

Led by our expert team, all of whom bring a phenomenal amount of expertise and knowledge of jungle and tropical environments, you’ll learn the essential medical skills required to care for and treat illnesses and injuries common to this harsh environment, plus basic navigation and camp craft skills for use in this complex training environment.

The course enables attendees to:

Increase their knowledge about Jungle Medicine and equip medics with practical survival skills, an overview of tropical medicine, logistical knowledge and pre-hospital skills required on a jungle expedition all while immersed in the environment
Acquire and develop specific survival skills for Jungle Medicine and standard operating procedures applicable to a jungle environment
Develop leadership and decision making skills required when working in resource-limited environments
Enhance knowledge and skills relating to understanding, diagnosing and treating heat related illness and hydration
Improve environmental awareness enabling a greater ability to plan, risk assess and set yourself up fro successful expeditions in one of the world’s most challenging climates

What will l learn on the Jungle Medicine course?
Through hands-on (learning by doing) workshops and scenarios, this highly practical course is supported by a comprehensive curriculum of tropical medicine, logistical knowledge and pre-hospital skills, taught through lectures and fully immersive workshops. You’ll cover a range of topics, such as managing snake, scorpion and spider envenomations, primary survey and basic navigation in the jungle, casevac drills as well as managing fever in the tropics, all preparing you for expeditions, work and micro-adventures in tropical and jungle environments.

How could attending the Jungle Medicine course further my career?
Our Jungle Medicine course is a great introduction into specific jungle expeditions as well as longer expeditions or even taking on a medical role within this unique environment. Attending this course will give you a unique set of skills, plus an appreciation of how triple canopy can affect casevac (extracting casualties), navigation, planning & execution of care.

Who would benefit from attending this course?
Jungle Medicine offers an exciting combination of medical practice in a tropical environment, so any Medical or Allied Health Professional who is involved in medicine in the outdoors and is interested or considering accompanying a tropical or jungle expedition would benefit the most. If you are willing to think and work outside your comfort zone this is a great course for you.

With the role of an expedition medic requiring many skills, our Jungle Medicine course offers the perfect opportunity to learn new skills and enhance your expedition knowledge as well as focus on tropical medicine and survival skills in the extreme.

Don’t just take our word for how amazing this course is, Mieke, a 2018 Jungle Medicine course attendee said:

Excellent course. First of all, taking place in a beautiful country, covering a wide variety of subjects relevant to surviving as a medic in the jungle via lectures and hands-on skills, whilst being fully immersed in the astonishing deep untouched jungle. Adding the extras of traveling over and crossing the Pacuare, wading through streams carrying your pack and of course an amazing team! Would definitely recommend and go again.

Where else in the world could you receive such hands-on experience, be part of a unique learning opportunity and have an adventure of a lifetime. To find out more and to experience our Jungle Medicine course for yourself, please click here.

Take your EXTREME medical career to the next level – book your place today!

Meet the team behind our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine course in Slovenia

24th June 2019WEM Marketing DeptExpedition & Wilderness MedicineNo CommentsExpedition & Wilderness Medicine, Expedition & Wilderness Medicine course, slovenia

We brought together a remarkable teaching faculty for our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine course that took place place in Slovenia this October 2019; all with an amazing depth of experience, living and working in the most remote corners of the world and achieving notable success in the face of extreme challenge and adversity. They shared their extensive knowledge and skills to give a comprehensive understanding of how to lead and provide medical cover on expeditions.

Meet this highly specialised team who delivered an unrivalled syllabus of content:

Ben Watts, Paramedic & Expedition Leader

Ben has been a Paramedic since 2014 and is a Critical Care Paramedic on the Thames Valley Air Ambulance. With a particular interest in human factors both within pre-hospital medicine and the expedition arena, Ben’s interest in Expedition medicine has seen him take on medic roles on a number of remote expeditions in Canada.

He also has a penchant for wandering the great outdoors, as well as taking on big river expeditions and Whitewater paddling. so, when he’s not on a micro adventure or practicing medicine, you’ll find him teaching (another of his passions), especially trauma medicine and particularly when the training takes place outside!

Hannah Kittson, Emergency Medicine Registrar

When she’s not working on her Diplomas in Mountain Medicine and Tropical Medicine, you can find Hannah involved in providing medical cover for multiple, often remote, outdoor sports events including ultra-marathons, open water swimming, triathlons and mountain biking. If that’s not enough, when she’s not in the mountains, Hannah will often be found at Silverstone where she works regularly as a motorsport doctor.

Emma Figures, Medical Doctor

Emma Figures, Medical Doctor In her life before medicine, Emma lived in a caravan in Wales, worked as a healthcare assistant, travelled solo around the world having never been on a plane, hiked the Himalayas, studied Geography at Cambridge and volunteered in Nepal, China, India, Sri Lanka and Zambia (Teaching, Tsunami relief and TB hospices). After graduating, she taught in Geneva and undertook an internship at the UN and WHO, where she attended the Human Rights Council and World Health Assembly.

She then returned to Cambridge to study Medicine and ventured to Borneo for her elective (in a busy city ED and rural jungle clinic). After Foundation training in Cornwall and a Mountain Medicine course in Morocco, Emma returned to Kathmandu with Nepal Critical Care Development Foundation and has subsequently pursued a colourful career in expedition medicine and education.

Her expedition medic work has taken her on charity cycles in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka and hiking challenges in Iceland, the Grand Canyon and Kilimanjaro. She also had the chance to work in Fiji with the famous Dr Joe for the US reality TV show Survivor. Closer to home, she has worked as an Event Medic for a Children in Need Ramble and in the Brecon Beacons with Across The Divide.

Emma completed a PGCE during her clinical teaching fellowship at Birmingham University, before flying off to warmer weather (and Category 5 hurricanes) in the Caribbean, where she was as an Assistant Professor at Saba University. She is now back in the UK for GP training, but continues to dream of faraway places and enthusiastically teaches on expedition medicine courses dressed as a magical unicorn – true story!

Taryn Anderson, Clinical Nurse and Medic

Taryn Anderson, Clinical Nurse and Medic Taryn is a qualified nurse who trained in Australia and spent the first part of her career working as Nursing Officer in the Australian Army. During her time in the military she completed her Master’s in Public Health and Tropical Medicine and began providing healthcare to in complex remote environments including Kenya, Papua New Guinea and remote Australia.

Moving to the UK in 2015, Taryn began to seek out further clinical challenges and responded to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa as both a Clinician and the Senior Nurse overseeing the Ebola Treatment Centre, which involved developing protocols for stringent infection prevention and control procedures and a comprehensive training program for staff.

During the battle for Mosul, Taryn worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) as Clinical Coordinator over the course of 12 months helping to establish and run three field hospitals providing damage control resuscitation for trauma patients and two maternity hospitals to provide obstetric care to the people of Mosul.

Taryn has also responded as part of disaster relief efforts providing medical cover to teams deploying to Haiti, Nepal and Mozambique but most recently has been working for WEM providing medical support to a TV production in the South Pacific. She continues to regularly return to work in Australia as a Remote Area Nurse providing medical support to some of the remotest areas of the country and is currently enjoying exploring the South of England after a recent move.

Roger Alcock, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Paediatric Emergency Medicine

Roger is a Scottish Patient Safety Programme Fellow who trained in the UK, New Zealand and Sweden. He has previously worked for Kent, Surrey and Sussex Helicopter Emergency Medical Service. (HEMS) and now currently instructs on Advanced Trauma, Medical and Paediatric Life Support in the UK and overseas. As an Educational Coordinator for Emergency Medicine at the Scottish Centre for Simulation and Clinical Human Factors he has designed, developed and delivered multiple high-fidelity simulation courses.

In 2012 and 2013 he trained and mentored clinicians in the first Malawian Emergency Department as part of a bilateral governmental aid programme and has also worked in collaboration with the World Health Organisation in Jordan and Erbil, where he helped to run the first multi-disciplinary and multi-agency Chemical Exposure and Trauma Care simulation training in Kurdistan.

In response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, in November 2014 he helped lead an NHS team within the first cohort of volunteers deployed by the UK Government and has also been deployed to the Caribbean post Hurricane Irma. Roger is an active member of the UK Emergency Medical Team supporting affected countries in the immediate aftermath of a humanitarian emergency.

Combining city centre living with his love of the outdoors – cycling, hill walking and long-distance running, medicine in austere environments is his passion and he has extensive expedition and ultra-marathon experience throughout Europe including Arctic Norway, Antarctica, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Roger regularly teaches on Expedition and Wilderness Medicine courses in the UK and abroad.

Jamie Pattison, Medical Officer for Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team

Jamie Pattison, Medical Officer for Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team Jamie grew up in the wilds of Northumberland, where this endless empty landscape instilled a sense of adventure and a desire to explore every corner of the world and to help others do the same. Believing that travel, endeavour and adventure are the best teachers in the world, Jamie has travelled extensively, but finds that his heart beats hardest in cold and mountainous environments; rather unsurprisingly for a Geordie. This passion for the unknown has taken him from the Deserts of North Africa to the Arctic Tundra of Greenland and Svalbard. An adventure athlete, climber, surfer, runner, mountaineer, he believes in challenging yourself and pushing your limits in every opportunity.

Jamie found his other great passion, pre-hospital care when he joined Northumberland National Park Mountain Rescue Team, where at the age of 23, he became the team’s youngest ever Medical Officer, and is now a qualified Rope rescue supervisor, water rescue first responder and MR medic, working hard to develop the remote medical care NNPMRT provide. Having completed his UK HEMS crew training, Jamie spends his spare time working for the North East Ambulance Service on the road.

In April 2016, Jamie took part in the Iceman Polar race in Greenland, billed as the ‘Toughest Arctic ski race in the world’. After 5 days of skiing, avoiding polar bears and a storm, Jamie and his team mates won the race, with a time of 22 hours and 23 minutes.

Burjor Langdana, Expedition Dentist

Burjor is both a past consultant dentist for the British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit and a resident expedition dentist for AdventureMedic. He has many years’ experience in Expedition/Wilderness and Remote Access Dentistry, having first become interested in this specialism while running dental camps in remote parts of India (where he did his Masters in Oral Surgery), and later when working in the Sultanate of Oman.

Burjor deepened and broadened his expedition medical experience through spending four seasons in the Antarctic; working as a VSO dentist in Malawi and working with Mobile Surgical Services in New Zealand.

The contributing author and editor for the dental chapter in the new Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine, Burjor has written numerous articles about his specialism, which have been published in AdventureMedic and in the dental section of competency guides for remote health care practitioners and expedition medicine. He has also lectured extensively on his subject and provides phone and email support for event medics.

His main passion these days is to train medics in the dark art of Expedition Dentistry, through running intensive yet interesting hands-on workshops.

Claire Grogan, Emergency Medicine Doctor

Claire is an Emergency Medicine doctor with a passion for expedition and remote medicine. She has provided medical support for expeditions in many environments, but mostly enjoys working in cold & polar regions.

She enjoys spending time in the Arctic and has worked as Ship’s Doctor for a polar expedition cruise to 81 degrees North, has been part of expeditions in the Trollheim of North West Svalbard, and has crossed Finnmarksvidda & Hardangervidda plateau’s in Norway.

Claire is helping set up the Global Polar & Altitude Metabolic Research Registry at the Human Metabolic Research Unit and the University of Coventry and is a member of the Medical Advisory Group at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Earlier this year she was the doctor for the Weddell Sea Expedition 2019, an international scientific expedition that explored the area around the Larsen C ice shelf and Antarctic Peninsula.

Claire has just returned from a 583km ski crossing of the Greenland Icecap, the 2nd largest ice sheet in the world, which saw an expedition team of 5 cross from West to East in 25 days.

In 2015, whilst working at a high altitude rescue post in the Everest Region of Nepal, she was caught up in the 7.8M earthquake that struck the region and joined a relief team from Australian Himalayan Foundation to deliver Aid and carry out a reconnaissance and needs assessment in a remote mountainous region of the Lower Solukhumbu.

After completing her medical degree in London and a BSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine, Claire went on to complete the Diploma in the Medical Care of Catastrophes (DMCC), and the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene.

John Apps, WEM Polar Medicine Course Director New Zealand

John Apps Hugely experienced, John is UK-trained GP, with extensive pre-hospital emergency care experience who moved to New Zealand where he initially worked in rural general practice before and now works in rural emergency departments, in between adventures.

He has worked ten summer seasons with Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions (ALE) in Antarctica, taken on multiple Himalayan tours, he’s been the chief MO on the Everest and North Pole marathons, served with the military in Afghanistan and North Africa and he’s an active Search and Rescue (SAR) team member in New Zealand.

Well known to WEM, John has assisted on many WEM courses, notably our Everest Base Camp trek as well as heading up our New Zealand Polar Medicine course.

Join us in October 2020 as our next Expedition and Wilderness course returns to the stunning Lake Bohinj in Slovenia. Learn from an incredibly experienced and knowledgeable team, and be part of something amazing. Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Thinking of a Polar-based medical career?

28th May 2019WEM Marketing Deptpolar medicineNo Commentspolar medicine, Polar Medicine course, Polar Medicine New Zealand

Join us on the edge of the Hardangervidda Plateau in Norway or in the stunning Southern Alps in New Zealand for an action-packed week of Polar & Expedition Medicine. This world-renowned practical course gives you the opportunity to experience and become fully immersed in a polar environment first hand, where you’ll travel by ski, snowshoes and dogsled as well as experience an overnight stay in your own carefully constructed snow shelter.

Led by our expert team, all of whom bring a phenomenal amount of expertise and knowledge of polar and high-altitude environments, you’ll learn the essential expedition medical skills required to care for and treat illnesses and injuries likely to occur in this harsh environment.

The course aims to enable attendees to:

Increase their knowledge about Polar Medicine and learn the essentials of polar travel, survival and cold weather medicine while immersed in a polar environment
Acquire and develop specific survival skills applicable to Polar Medicine
Develop leadership and decision making skills required when working in resource-limited environments
Enhance knowledge and skills relating to understanding, diagnosing and treating cold weather and altitude illnesses and injuries when presented
Understand and develop the non-technical skills required for Polar Medicine and Expeditions in general, such as leadership and decision making skills, teamwork and being able to work together in an under-resourced austere environment

What will l learn on the Polar Medicine course?
Through hands-on workshops and scenarios, this highly practical course is supported by a comprehensive curriculum of cold weather and altitude medicine, taught through lectures and fully immersive workshops. You’ll cover a range of topics, such as avalanche awareness, basic navigation, primary survival in the wilderness, pre-expedition planning as well as shelter construction and cold water immersion and hypothermia, all preparing you for work, expeditions and micro-adventures in polar and high-altitude environments.

Who would benefit from attending this course?
Expedition medicine offers an exciting combination of medical practice and the outdoors, so any health professional who is involved in medicine in the outdoors and is interested or considering accompanying a cold weather expedition would benefit the most. If you are willing to think and work outside the box this is a great course for you.

With the role of an expedition medic requiring many skills, our Polar Medicine course offers the perfect opportunity to learn new skills and enhance your basic expedition knowledge as well as focus on key cold weather and high-altitude survival skills in the extreme.

Mark Hannaford, Managing Director & Founder of World Extreme Medicine (WEM) said: “This course gives attendees the opportunity to challenge themselves in a real-life extreme environment, a polar setting is dramatically different from anywhere else on earth.

Our expert team of medics, logisticians and SAR professionals will be combining lectures, workshops and discussions with lots of hands-on experience to give course participants vital insight into the preparation required for an expedition as well as the ability to cope under pressure and perform to the best of their ability in an austere and resource-limited environment.

From this course, they can go anywhere. They could provide medical support for scientists working in Antarctica, become a medic on a polar expedition or with more training go on to work in other exciting areas and austere environments.”

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Where else in the world could you receive such hands-on experience, be part of a unique learning experience and have an adventure of a lifetime. To find out more and to experience our Polar Medicine course for yourself, please click here.

Take your EXTREME medical career to the next level – book your place today!

Photo Credit: Andrew Peacock

Expedition and Wilderness Medicine: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

1st May 2019WEM Marketing DeptExpedition & Wilderness MedicineNo CommentsEWM training courses, Expedition & Wilderness Medicine, expeditions

What content do you cover in the Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course?
This comprehensive foundation course covers a broad range of topics over the course of the 4 days blending engaging lecture content with hands on practical workshops ending on the last day with a real-time search and rescue simulation. Attending the course will teach you the key skills essential to all expedition medics including:

Pre-expedition planning
Security on expeditions
Climate specific lectures
Group management, behaviour and CRM
Expedition dentistry
Mental health on expeditions
Hill skills
Wound care

Are these courses just for doctors?
No, expedition medicine opportunities are open to a wide range of medical professionals although doctors, nurses and paramedics are the most common roles advertised for. The good news is this list is growing as the range of practitioner roles within healthcare grows. We have also found that as the expedition world evolves and groups with more complex needs are commonly taking part in expeditions, the range of healthcare providers required can be incredibly varied.

Do I need experience?
No experience required, you’ll find on the course there is a huge mix of people with various degrees of expedition and travel experience. Throughout the course we’ll be discussing what skills are needed to build and make yourself a great expedition medic, but above all a great expedition team member or even leader. All we ask from you to really gain the most from this experience is a positive mindset and a thirst for adventure.

Do we get outside much?
Absolutely, we try and spend half the day outside so we can replicate real-life expedition conditions as much as possible. Typically this is come rain or shine, adverse conditions are all part of what makes expedition medicine so exciting, splinting a leg while dealing with soggy boots, soaking wet waterproofs, mud, driving rain, wind and on uneven ground is great fun…there again it could be lovely sunny t-shirt weather, you never can predict these things in the mountains. It’s uncommon to get enough time to stray too far into the hills so we suggest that people add another day or two to really enjoy the local environment. Plas y Brenin for example has a view of Snowdon from the bar and dining area, with the mountain in view it would be a shame not to set a few hours aside to get up there.

I’ve got a trip planned; will we be able to discuss it?
Yes, absolutely it’s actively encouraged and part of what are highly experienced faculty are here to help you with! We encourage as much interaction as possible; you can ask questions at any time and workshops session are highly interactive. Our team is with you all week and are always happy to chat about upcoming adventures, we find that breaks and meals are a great time to sit down and chat with the team about your plans.

If you want to open up your medical career and mix adventure into your career then this is the course for you!

To find out more information about our Expedition and Wilderness Medicine courses or to book your place on what we promise will be an incredibly inspiring few days, please click here.

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Interested in diving even deeper?

International Diploma and MSc Program in Extreme Medicine at Exeter University Medical School. Modular with part-time and full-time options.

4 excellent reasons to choose our renowned Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course

24th April 2019WEM Marketing DeptExpedition & Wilderness MedicineNo Commentsexpedition and wilderness medicine course, expedition medicine

If you’re a medic with a passion for adventure and travel looking to enhance your career then one of our internationally renowned Expedition & Wilderness Medicine courses is for you!

This comprehensive introductory training course in expedition and wilderness medicine brings together likeminded medics from a variety of backgrounds and career stages all sharing the same common desire – to bring more adventure into their careers and blend their passion for travel, adventure and the great outdoors with their medical skills. Our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine courses provides a good basic entry level into expedition medicine for those with no or little experience just beginning their extreme medicine journey. It’s also equally as useful for those who have previously been on expeditions as medics but are now wanting to add more strings to their bow.

With a 50/50 mix of engaging lecture content and hands on practical group work taking place over the first 3 days and evenings spent socialising, taking on challenge tasks and special guest lectures, the final day will focus on a search and rescue scenario where you’ll combine all your newly learnt skills to locate, rescue, treat and evacuate a casualty. Throughout the course you will be encouraged in new ways of thinking and new approaches to problem solving as well as challenging your abilities to adapt to unpredictable situations – a must-have when taking on any type of expedition.

4 excellent reasons to choose our Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course:

Earn CPD credits and further your career – add more adventure to your career and bring new challenges by learning and enhancing your knowledge and skill set to ensure you are in the best possible position to further your career. For those attending and completing the course, accreditation will be offered (we estimate 24 hours of CPD) through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Expedition and Wilderness topics explained – across the 4 days you’ll cover a broad range of topics including expedition planning, security, managing difficult people, dentistry, climate specific lectures, hill skills as well as having the unique opportunity to hear inspiring ‘real-life’ stories from the WEM faculty.
Practical hands on experience – throughout your time with us, there will be practical workshops on field-proven techniques to inspire and enhance your skills; helping you to become a more effective and highly valued practitioner of expedition and wilderness medicine.
Expert faculty – between them our remarkable expert team have a depth of knowledge and experience, living and working in the most remote corners of the world, achieving notable success in the face of extreme challenge and adversity.

If you needed any more reason to join us on our next course and take your career to the extreme, you might be interested to know Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course alumni have left to take part in expeditions across the globe, responded to natural disasters and emergencies and have gained placements with organisations such as Raleigh International, UK-Med, Team Rubicon and Médecins Sans Frontières.

Our Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course also comes highly recommended from past course attendees:

I’ve literately spent my last 4 days messing around on hills and learning some expedition medicine. Would recommend ‘Expedition and Wilderness Medicine’ course from @ExpedMedicine to anyone who is interested in working outside of the hospital or GP practice.

George, 2019 Expedition and Wilderness Medicine course attendee

Take your first steps to becoming an expedition medic that could see you travelling the world, simply choose your preferred dates and location and book your place today!

March 2020 – Keswick
May 2020 – Plas y Brenin
October 2020 – Corfe Castle
Oct 2020 – Slovenia

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Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

#BeExtreme

Ocean Medicine Course: take your medical career in a new direction

28th March 2019WEM Marketing DeptOcean MedicineNo Commentsocean medicine, plymouth, WEM

Our ground-breaking 4 day Ocean Medicine training course in Plymouth is designed to give medical professionals a highly practical and immersive training experience for any Ocean-going events and expeditions. So, if you’re wanting to provide medical cover for water-based expeditions – this is the course for you! It’s also a great refresher for anyone already working in the field.

4 excellent reasons to attend our Ocean Medicine course:

Further your career – this course has been specifically designed for medical professionals who might be interested in supporting marine based challenges, sporting events, ocean swims, extended sailing trips and expeditions. World Extreme Medicine course alumni have left to take part in expeditions across the globe, responded to natural disasters and emergencies, gained placements with leading organisations such as Raleigh International and Médecins Sans Frontières, as well as set off to swim Cape Horn, row unimaginable distances and help others achieve their lifetime ambitions on the water.

Earn CPD credits – for those attending our Ocean Medicine course, accreditation will be offered (we estimate 24 hours of CPD for the complete course) through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Our course provides the perfect opportunity to increase your ocean and marine medicine skill set enabling you to become a more effective medic.

Highly practical training experience – our highly qualified team will deliver content through practical and fully immersive workshops, lectures and group discussions which will involve a significant amount of time on the water and working in small groups. You’ll learn clinical skills and field proven techniques that will ensure you leave the course feeling confident in your ability to provide medical cover on a water-based expedition.

Expert team – led by our expert WEM faculty including Dr Bryony Pointon, Dr Claire Bailey, member of the all-female Round the World Race Crew, Nikki McLeary, Ocean Swimmer Nuala Moore and Ian Couch, veteran on many Atlantic Rowing Challenges we have developed the best curriculum for this course through consultation with a group of world-renowned ocean explorers, sports people and logisticians. Using their combined expertise and vast experience this pioneering course will provide you with real-world skills and an understanding of conditions likely to occur whilst on a marine based expedition.

Join us and experience our Ocean Medicine course for yourself. Be part of something amazing and take your extreme medicine career to the next level.
Book your place today!

Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

14th March 2019WEM Marketing DeptTraumaNo CommentsEoin Walker, extreme medicine, Paediatric Trauma, Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course, pre hospital care

We asked Eoin Walker, a London HEMS Paramedic, UKMED Team Member, WEM MSc in Extreme Medicine Faculty and our Paediatric Trauma course leader to run through the most frequently asked questions he gets asked regarding the course.

What content do you cover in the Paediatric Trauma course?
The course offers a fully immersive and highly practical hands-on approach to learning including various slow time simulations relevant to situations and scenarios you might find yourself, group workshops and faculty panel discussions. Attending the course will teach you the key skills needed to assess and stabilise a critically ill paediatric trauma patient in a pre-hospital environment including:

Paediatric trauma assessment and airway
IO (Intraosseous infusion) access and pain management
Paediatric traumatic and medical cardiac arrests
Breaking bad news in paediatric death, the 2nd patient
Integrated parent relationship management, non-technical skills and troubleshooting
Collapsed infant from Asthma, Anaphylaxis, Sepsis and Seizures
Medical assessment tools and FOI
Panel discussions with paediatric case scenarios
Kit familiarisation
Variations in approach to paediatric patients including the differences in Airway, Breathing and Circulation

Is cardiac arrest – medical and traumatic covered on the course?
Yes, both are covered across the two days within their own 45 minute integrated workshops, as well as enhanced fidelity simulations to increase learning and improve skills and WEM panel discussions with some of the country’s leading paediatric specialists including specific paediatric case scenarios.

How do you adapt care for a pre-hospital environment?
Decision making in any medical situation can be a challenge, add to that a high stress situation and a paediatric trauma patient and you as the health professional needs to be confident in providing the gold standard of critical care we all aspire to. Within a pre-hospital environment we will teach you how to follow and adapt the ceiling of care principle, where the aim is to provide continuity of care and ensure good communication is prevalent throughout.

Do you cover pain management for children?
Yes, this topic is covered extensively on the first day of the course within a workshop and also as part of slow time simulation reflective of a paediatric fall from height scenario. It’s important to understand the unique and challenging problems a paediatric trauma patient can present with and how best to assess and proficiently manage the patient, to achieve the optimum outcome.

How do you achieve paediatric splintage?
There are various adaptions taught within the course and all will be dependent on the patients’ trauma, range of movement and environment. We will discuss in great detail and focus your skills through hands on practical experience.

Which airway techniques are preferable?
Airway control is a critical skill for any pre-hospital healthcare provider and as such we advocate various airway techniques which will depend on the environment your find yourself in. Techniques will be taught through a combination of taught lectures, workshops, simulation and plenary discussions and will include supplementary additions to both intubating through a supraglottic airway (SGA) and Endotracheal intubation (ETI).

Do you teach around assessment tools in Paediatrics?
Yes, these are essential to form a general impression of our patient and will be used to assess and determine the treatment given. We will teach and discuss the Paediatric Assessment Triangle (PAT) that consists of three areas of assessment: Appearance; Work of Breathing; and Circulation to Skin with adjunctive TICLS – pronounced ‘tickles’ – that looks at muscle tone, irritability, consolability, look (gaze) and speech.

If you want to feel more confident in treating sick children together with how to proficiently manage traumatic and medic paediatric cardiac arrests, then this is the course for you!

To find out more information about our Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course or to book your place on what we promise will be an incredibly inspiring 2 days, please click here.

World Extreme Medicine Founder Mark Hannaford awarded the World’s First Honorary Associate Professorship in Extreme Medicine

8th March 2019WEM Marketing DeptUncategorisedNo CommentsHonorary Associate Professorship, mark hannaford, university of exeter, World Extreme Medicine

We are thrilled to announce that our renowned Founding Director and CEO, Mark Hannaford is to be the first person in the world awarded an Honorary Associate Professorship in Extreme Medicine by the University of Exeter.

As a pioneer of programmes of social change and medical innovation, this incredible honour is to be bestowed in recognition of Mark’s international standing in the development of extreme medicine and his significant, ongoing academic contributions to the University of Exeter’s Medical School’s innovative International Diploma & MSc in Extreme Medicine.

The University of Exeter state that ‘the title ‘Honorary Associate Professor’ should be conferred on a person who is academically qualified for the status proposed. The individual must be a leading authority in the subject with an international reputation. The individual will also normally have experience of, and a demonstrated commitment towards fostering excellence in research and/or education.” With over 30 years’ experience working in worldwide extreme environments, Mark Hannaford is widely credited as one of the drivers behind the growing importance of Extreme Medicine both in the UK and globally.

Remarking on his Honorary Professorship, Mark said, “For once in my life I have been left speechless, literally devoid of words. I am deeply honoured to receive this award, which coincides with our recent 18th anniversary celebrations at World Extreme Medicine. This award wonderfully compliments my Fellowship from both the prestigious Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Society of Arts, which were both received for my pioneering work in the field of the promotion of expedition & wilderness medicine in the UK. For someone who is not surgically or medically qualified, I feel humbled and privileged to have received such an honour, and even more so as it’s the first Honorary Professorship in Extreme Medicine in the world. This honour serves to recognise the growing importance of Extreme Medicine and reinforces WEM’s position as a global leader.”

Mark’s main contributions include fundamentally changing the provision of medical care on expeditions, building the world’s largest online community of medics working in remote areas, the world’s largest subject conference and the development and implementation of the world’s first MSc programme in Extreme Medicine with the University of Exeter Medical School through World Extreme Medicine (WEM), the world’s leading provider of specialist training courses for medics taking their skills into challenging environments. Mark has also helped to facilitate the raising of over £103 million for charity.

As Founding Director of WEM and now the established World Extreme Medicine global Conference, Mark has created a unique platform for inspiring medical minds to meet, share experiences and promote cross-disciplinary working. The #WEM19 Conference stimulates new thinking, extends professional relationships and shares new and more effective approaches to medical practice in challenging environments.

5 reasons how our unique trauma courses can enhance your critical care career

26th February 2019WEM Marketing DeptTraumaNo CommentsPaediatric Trauma and Acute Care course, Pre-Hospital Trauma Care course, trauma medicine

Join us on one of our insightful and highly interactive 2 day trauma courses that will teach you the fundamental skills needed to asses and stablise the most difficult of trauma patient cases while working in an extreme pre-hospital environment. By understanding the medical skills required, following a stepwise approach and providing this gold standard of critical care we aspire to, it will lead to improved patient outcomes and survival, quite literally meaning the difference between life and death.

For aspiring critical care and paediatric trauma specialists our Paediatric Trauma and Pre-Hospital Trauma courses provide the perfect introduction and taster to enhance your study and further your career.

The Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course – often presenting in a high stress situation, these patients present unique and challenging problems for those first to the scene. If you want to feel more confident in treating sick children together with how to proficiently manage traumatic and medic paediatric cardiac arrests then this is the course for you.

Pre-Hospital Trauma Care course – exploring the pathophysiology, primary injuries and secondary injuries involved in trauma, this course will also teach the management of such injuries to minimise sequelae from secondary traumatic injuries and also identify sensitive and specific tools and signs of injury to help identify time critical cases.

5 excellent reasons to attend our Paediatric Trauma or Pre-Hospital Trauma courses:

Learn how to optimise patient care and survival – our trauma workshops are designed to produce a more resilient, effective and efficient approach in treating critically injured patients (both paediatrics and adults) in what will often be extreme and difficult circumstances due to the patient’s trauma, but also regarding the environment you may find yourself in.
Further your career – perfect for nurses, doctors and paramedics wanting to pursue and specialise in trauma care both in and out of the hospital, our trauma courses act as a great introduction to trauma and pre-hospital care. They are a great bridger course, especially for those aspiring to apply for air ambulance positions.
Dynamic and hands on experience – our highly qualified and well-equipped practitioners will deliver content through dynamic medical and trauma simulations, lectures, workshops and group discussions. You’ll learn clinical skills and field proven techniques that will ensure you leave the course feeling more confident in your ability to perform in a highly stressful situation.
Expert team – our expert trauma faculty led by Eoin Walker, Pre-Hospital Mass Causality Incident Management Paramedic and HEMS paramedic will be drawing on their own personal and extensive experience (many with 15 years plus) of attending and practicing pre-hospital and paediatric trauma medicine and sharing their knowledge and skills used on a daily basis to provide a fully-immersive experience of how to optimise the care and survival of the patient
Earn CPD credits – for those attending either our Paediatric Trauma or Pre-Hospital Trauma course, accreditation will be offered (we estimate 12 hours of CPD) through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Our trauma courses provide the perfect opportunity to increase your pre-hospital medicine skill set enabling you to become a more effective practitioner.

Join us and experience our The Paediatric Trauma and Acute Care course and Pre-Hospital Trauma Care course for yourself. Be part of something amazing and take your extreme medicine career to the next level.
Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Would you have the confidence to assess and treat a high-stress Paediatric Trauma case?

Dr Nat Taylor of the historic Ice Maidens expedition joins us as faculty for WEMski

11th February 2019WEM Marketing DeptUncategorisedNo CommentsAntarctica, Dr Nat Taylor, Ice Maidens, WEMski, WEMski guest speaker

This time last year, Nat Taylor had just completed an incredible 1,700-mile expedition, as she formed part of the badass all-female group ‘The Ice Maidens’, who skied coast-to-coast across Antarctica using muscle power alone (and broke a record or two along the way). This year sees Nat pull her ski boots on for a slightly different challenge, as she joins us as faculty for WEMski, our mini-conference with a difference.

Nat will be talking about the incredible ‘Ice Maidens’ mission, the brainchild of Nat and her colleague Major Nics Wetherill, where they wanted to take on a formidable challenge that would inspire women of all ages and abilities to take part and do something they wouldn’t normally be doing, or even think was possible. They would be able to collect data on female endurance in extreme environments and show that women have the mental strength and physical endurance to operate in the most hostile environment on earth.

The only conditions to participating in this ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity would be that applicants were serving in the Army (regular or reserve) and were female. In total 250 people came forward and were put through rigorous tests in the UK and in freezing conditions in Norway on a winter survival skills course that would simulate the Antarctica environment before the final six were selected.

The ‘Ice Maidens’ set off on 21st November 2017 for an incredible feat that would see the soldiers led by Nat and Nics endure 62 days on the ice, navigating crevasse fields while pulling sledges weighing up to 80kg and travelling up to 43km a day, all whilst battling temperatures as low as -50 degrees. This expedition was to be one of the biggest adventures of their lives and where for some, lifelong dreams were made!

Using her experience as an explorer and renowned endurance adventure racer, Nat has pushed her body to its limits on many an occasion, and fully understands what it takes, both physically and mentally to take control, carry on and push through in extreme and stressful situations. This is even more prevalent in Nat’s ‘day job’ as a Regimental Medical Officer and General Practitioner serving with the First Battalion the Rifles, based in Wales; having previously served in Germany and Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

With WEMski content centred around real-world experiences of extreme physical and psychological challenges, excellence in leadership, expedition medicine in the extremes, plus much more, we couldn’t think of a better placed person to join WEM faculty than Nat. She’ll be inspiring and educating our attendees with her own experiences of working in dangerous and stressful environments, as well as sharing her incredible ‘Ice Maiden’ story.

Be part of something amazing, book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Captain Lou Rudd MBE of recent Antarctic fame joins our 2019 WEMski guest speaker line up

7th February 2019WEM Marketing DeptWEMSkiNo CommentsAntarctica, Capt Lou Rudd, mental health, WEMski, wemski speaker

An inspiration to us all, we are delighted to have Captain Lou Rudd join us for this years’ WEMski mini-conference fresh from his epic expedition of crossing Antarctica solo in an unsupported and unassisted gruelling 920-mile journey lasting 56 days – a remarkable achievement!

With a career in the British Army, and as a qualified military ski instructor and Arctic warfare instructor, Lou is no stranger to extreme cold weather environments, but it would take an extraordinary amount of determination, mental and physical willpower to take on and complete such a dangerous expedition. No less so, because this expedition was personal, Lou was undertaking this expedition in memory of his close friend and explorer Henry Worsley, who died attempting an unassisted solo trip just 30 miles short of completing the record solo crossing in 2016.

Stretched to the limits and showing a mental resilience one can only imagine in one of nature’s most inhospitable environments, Lou pushed the boundaries of human endurance hauling a 140kg sled through wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour and freezing temperatures below minus-40 degrees – all conditions he had trained for in the months prior, but still none the less brutal. It was the mental aspect that was a little harder to prepare for, so to alleviate the long weeks of solitude and to have a human voice in his head, Lou took comfort in listening to audio books including Winston Churchill and other biographies as well as listening to a 1980’s music playlist with the likes of Bono and Bruce Springsteen.

Mental health and the ability to deal with working in stressful environments is one of the main themes and discussions taking place throughout our week at WEMski and they don’t come more extreme than a solo trek across Antarctica. We can’t wait to hear Lou share his unique experiences with the delegates at WEMski where he’ll inspire and provide a unique insight into the clinical psychology of leadership, teamwork and the coping mechanisms he’s used when in extreme situations. It is these skills that medical professionals can then transfer to their everyday working life be they in the hospital environment or on an expedition.

Experience WEMski for yourself and be part of something amazing, book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

One Medicine Conservation Course in Namibia

5 excellent reasons to attend our amazing ‘One Medicine’ Conservation Medicine Course

17th January 2019WEM Marketing DeptConservation MedicineNo CommentsConservation, Conservation Medicine, Dr Rudie van Vuuren, Epikuro, lifeline clinic, Marlice van Vuuren, N/A’AN KU SÊ FOUNDATION, training course, veterinary

Working with the world-renowned N/a’an ku sê Foundation, we’ve designed a Conservation Medicine course unlike anything else in this area of extreme medicine, a ‘One Medicine’ course. If you’re keen to take your medical skills into conservation projects, nature reserves, remote communities or simply have a passion for conservation, this course is for you!

Open to both medical and animal health professionals you will explore the amazing work of conservation projects and what is required to take your medical skills into the wild. This amazing gathering will allow you to learn from the best, plus you will have the opportunity to network and meet like-minded people from around the world.

One Medicine is a movement to create networks and collaborations between human medicine and veterinary medicine.

5 excellent reasons to attend the Conservation Medicine Course:

• World-renowned team – a highly specialised group of experts including Dr Rudie van Vuuren (physician and conservationist), Marlice van Vuuren (conservationist), resident vets and the N/a’an ku sê Foundation’s medical team will be sharing their experiences and delivering an unrivalled syllabus of content.

• Topics – during the course you’ll explore conservation medicine, African zoonosis, venomous animals, wildlife immobilisation (theory and practical), anti-poaching, survival in the bush, life in remote clinics, rural outreach and infectious diseases.

• Hands on experience – there will be practical workshops on field-proven techniques to inspire and enhance your skills; helping you to become a more effective and highly valued practitioner of remote conservation medicine. You will also visit Epikuro, a remote settlement which is home to the Foundation’s Lifeline Clinic seeing first-hand how this medical facility is serving the wider community.

• Further your career – enhance your knowledge and increase your skillset to ensure you are in the best position possible to further your medical career and become a more effective and highly valued practitioner.

• One of a kind course – newly relaunched this Conservation Medicine course is one like no other. Using the emerging interdisciplinary field of conservation medicine this unique course serves to address the gaps with Zoonoses; infectious diseases of animals (usually vertebrates) that can naturally be transmitted to humans through both academic and practical sessions.

Experience our Conservation Medicine, a One Medicine, course in 2020 and take your extreme medicine career to the next level.
Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Desert Medicine: kick start your career as an extreme medic in the Sharqiya Sands, Oman

10th October 2018WEM Marketing DeptDesert MedicineNo CommentsDesert Medicine, Desert Medicine course, World Extreme Medicine

Sign up to our 2020 Desert Medicine course and you’ll find yourself on a journey of discovery and learning in how to become an extreme medic in one of the most beautiful settings on earth. The stunning Sharqiya Sands in Oman play host to our Desert Medicine course providing the perfect desert environment; rolling sand dunes, spectacular mountains and only Arabian nomads and camels for company.

As with all the World Extreme Medicine courses, our aim is to provide a practical training course that endeavours to make those attending more comfortable using the medical skills they already have in an austere environment. Quite often in such extreme conditions, the environment can become a distraction and the focus taken away from the casualty and their needs. By offering practical learning in a specific environment and providing the skills needed to survive, course attendees will become better at diagnosing and practising their medicine, which in turn will lead to better patient care.

The Desert Medicine course aims to enable attendees to:

Be better equipped and confident in providing the right assessment and treatment in a desert environment.
Acquire and develop extreme medicine skills that can be used in any austere environment as well as specific skills applicable to desert medicine.
Enhance knowledge and skills relating to understanding, diagnosing and treating endemic illnesses, trauma plus specific desert and heat-related illnesses when presented.
Understand and develop the non-technical expedition skills required in a desert environment such as pre-expedition planning, communication, navigation and trekking, plus evacuation and rescue scenarios.

What will I learn on the Desert Medicine course?
Our Desert Medicine course is a great example of an amazing training programme on the ground in one of the most inhospitable places in the world. This course runs more like an expedition; so real-life experience learning about core and desert specific field skills such as public health, navigation and casualty evacuation chain, interspersed with specific medical training. Plus, the best part of the course, actually getting out into the desert and sleeping under the stars – a magical experience not to be missed!

As part of the medical training on our Desert Medicine course, you will be looking at managing the endemic diseases often seen in the desert. You’ll be learning and talking a lot about the heat and acclimatisation, how to manage heat illness, as well as dealing with potential traumas associated with the sort of vehicles used in our journey.

Who should attend this course?
This specialised course is open to any qualified medical professional wanting to expand their knowledge and skill set in Desert Medicine; with a particular focus on heat-related illnesses and endemic diseases. The course offers a unique learning opportunity whether you are looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience in a beautiful location or need to learn new skills for your job. It’s perfect for potential and existing expedition medics looking to take their medical skills into the extreme, physicians who want a higher level of understanding or anyone wanting to work in an austere environment, as a lot of the core field skills learnt can be transferred across the various environments.

The medics who would benefit the most and are those that will actually find themselves working in the desert or in a hot environment. The majority of attendees from last year’s course were medics who were going to be working in a desert environment and from their feedback, they found the course really beneficial.

Where else in the world could you receive such hands-on experience, be part of a unique learning experience and have an adventure of a lifetime. To find out more and to experience our Desert Medicine course for yourself, please click here.

Take your medical career to the next level – book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

Meet the team behind our Desert Medicine course in Oman

9th October 2018WEM Marketing DeptDesert Medicine, UncategorisedNo CommentsDesert Medicine, Desert Medicine course, Desert Medicine team

We’ve brought together a fantastic team of individuals for our unforgettable Desert Medicine course which runs annually in Oman; all with an amazing wealth of experience across the world’s deserts. They will be sharing their extensive knowledge and skills to give you a comprehensive understanding of how to lead and provide medical cover on desert expeditions.

Meet this highly specialised team who will be delivering an unrivalled syllabus of content:

Eoin Walker, Trauma Lead for World Extreme Medicine and a Pre-Hospital Mass Casualty Incident Management Paramedic

Eoin Walker Eoin has been a Paramedic for 13 years and has worked for London’s Air Ambulance for 8 years treating critically ill patients as a Flight Paramedic.
He has worked for Extreme Medicine for 5 years both domestically and internationally teaching on pre-hospital trauma and expedition skills and is the WEM trauma lead and an honorary lecturer with the University of Exeter medical school.

He has undertaken various global expeditions as an expedition medic including 10 years throughout Central America, as well as working for the World Health Organisation as a consultant within pre-hospital care. Eoin also works as part of the Mobile Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT). After responding to the 7/7 bombings in London he works internationally teaching Pre-Hospital Mass Causality Incident Management.

He has progressed through his BSc and MSc in Critical Care and works for UKmed on behalf of WHO. Eoin is currently working as an Advanced Paramedic Practitioner for London Ambulance Service in East London.

Alex Bamford, Military Doctor (Royal Marines)

Originally trained as a physiotherapist, Alex went on to study medicine and is now a doctor in the Royal Navy, spending the last few years serving as a Royal Marine Clinician. Having developed a taste for endurance sport, including running through the Amazon for Men’s Fitness Magazine as part of their ultra-marathon team, Alex is no stranger to challenging environments and extreme medicine.

It was during an ultra-marathon through the Namib desert when he developed rhabdomyolysis, the breakdown of damaged skeletal muscle, that Alex first became curious about the field of wilderness and extreme medicine and has since led him to become involved in the medical support of events in the UK and abroad.

Alex joins our team having completed the 2017 British Trans-Americas Expedition, a six-man military expedition that rode from Ushuaia, Argentina to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska on CCM GP450s. As the medical officer on this incredible 20,000-mile motorcycle record attempt, Alex was responsible for the planning and execution of the medical component of this expedition. From managing a whole team with altitude sickness in the remote Bolivian Andes to being hit by a car in the murder capital of the world, the trip was certainly eventful and put his wilderness medical skills to the test. Over our 6-day course, Alex will share his experiences and lessons learnt from planning and executing remote overland travel.

Luca Alfatti, Paramedic, Expedition Leader and Remote Medic, World Extreme Medicine Faculty Member

Luca Alfatti

Luca is a HCPC registered Paramedic, who currently holds a Diploma in Paramedic Practice and is hoping to complete his BSc by the end of 2017. When in the UK, which admittedly it is not often, Luca works as a Paramedic in the North West and South West of England.

In addition to this he is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Wilderness Expedition Medicine Faculty Member, PHTLS instructor, Mountain Leader and Water Rescue Technician. Luca is also a HEFAT instructor, delivering hostile environment training to journalists both in the UK, before deployment and in country, during deployment.

Luca also works as a volunteer and fundraiser with Team Rubicon, which is a disaster response humanitarian organisation working both in the UK and overseas. Luca’s work has featured in magazines like ‘Trek and Mountains’ and ‘Adventure Travel’. His world first crossing of the Dash e Lut Desert, in Iran, in 2015 was featured in the National Geographic Traveller. Luca has also written a publication for ‘Paramedic Insight’ narrating his experience as an expedition medic, for an unsupported winter snow shoe crossing of Spitzbergen.

Luca does not only lead all his trips, but has often designed the trips himself and acts as either expedition leader/medic or both.

Mohammed Al-Zadjali, Outward Bound Oman Deputy General Manager

Mohammed Al-Zadjali Mohammed and his team at Outward Bound Oman will be running the logistical elements of our Desert Medicine course.

Having spent much of his time instructing and leading groups of people on challenging journeys across the desert, Mohammed knows the stunning Sharqiya Sands like the back of his hand and will be using his skills to lead the group across the immense sand dunes on a linear path leading them back to base camp.

Mohammed was also part of the amazing expedition team (alongside Sean Hudson and Mark Evans) who recreated the 1930 journey led by British explorer Bertram Thomas. The 2015 ‘Crossing the Empty Quarter’ expedition traced the route taken by Bertram and his team, a journey of 1,300 kilometres, across the biggest sand desert on earth. In keeping with the original expedition this challenging journey was conducted solely by foot and camel train; negotiating sandstorms, unforgivable desert landscapes and combatting the scorching heat.

Mark Evans MBE, Executive Director of Outward Bound Oman

Mark Evans, MBE With twenty-two years spent living and travelling extensively across Arabia, Mark brings an incredible knowledge of exploration and an unrivalled knowledge of the area, particularly in Oman. It was his entrepreneurial spirit and passion for exploration and education that led him to set up Outward Bound Oman in 2009, our base for this Desert Medicine course.

His incredible achievements include completing an 80-day camel expedition, a 49-day crossing of the Rub Al Khali, a 55-day 1,700 km solo kayak journey along the entire coastline of Oman from Musandam to Yemen, and extensive remote 4×4 journeys throughout Saudi Arabia and Oman.

In 2011 Mark was awarded the MBE for his work using expeditions to promote intercultural understanding between young people from western and Arab cultures. Mark is a fellow of the Explorers Club of New York, and The Royal Geographical Society in London and in 2018 was made an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Join us in January 2020; learn with this incredibly experienced and knowledgeable team, and be part of something amazing. Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:

World Extreme Medicine Desert Medicine Course

5 fantastic reasons to attend our extraordinary Desert Medicine Course

10th September 2018WEM Marketing DeptUncategorisedNo Comments

Join World Extreme Medicine for an unforgettable 6-day Desert Medicine course in the stunning Sharqiya Sands, Oman; where you’ll focus on learning the medical and survival skills required to lead and provide medical cover on desert expeditions. If you’re keen to take your medical skills into an extreme environment such as the desert, this course is for you!

Using the recently opened Outward Bound Oman Desert Centre as your base, the WEM faculty team led by Sean Hudson MBE, who brings an incredible wealth of exploration knowledge and working in desert environments to the course, and was awarded an MBE for services to ‘Providing Medical Aid and Education’, will take you on a two-part expedition through the Sharqiya Sands. It’s here you’ll learn to work with the environment, overcome the obstacles of the desert and increase your knowledge and skill set regarding Desert Medicine.

This specialised course is open to all health professionals and is ideal for potential and existing expedition medics looking to take their medical skills into the extreme. This amazing gathering will allow you to learn from the best, plus you will have the opportunity to network and meet like-minded people from around the world.

5 excellent reasons to attend the Desert Medicine Course:

Expert team – our expert Desert Medicine team led by Sean Hudson, MBE will be drawing from their own personal extensive experience across the world’s deserts and sharing their knowledge and skills, giving you a comprehensive understanding of how to lead and provide medical cover on desert expeditions.
Hands on experience – throughout your week with us you’ll learn clinical skills and field proven techniques that will ensure you leave the course feeling confident in your ability to lead and keep your expedition team healthy in a desert environment.
Earn CPD credits and further your career – enhance your knowledge and increase your skill set to ensure you are in the best position possible to further your medical career and become a more effective and highly valued practitioner. For those attending and completing the course, accreditation will be offered (we estimate 30 hours of CPD) through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Desert Medicine topics explained – during the course you’ll explore many topics including standard operating procedures for a desert environment, pre-expedition planning, basic navigation and communication in the desert, burn management, heat-related illness and hydration, how to manage snake, scorpion and spider envenomation’s and managing fractures and dislocations in the wilderness.
Unique desert location – offering exceptional wilderness conditions of the like you’ll not witness anywhere else in the world; with towering sand dunes reaching 100m in places, spectacular mountains that reach up to 10,000 feet into the sky and a desert that extends over an area of up to 10,000 square kilometres.

Our Desert Medicine course also comes highly recommended from past course attendees:

“I took the course in 2017. It was an excellent adventure and a real learning lesson. The Oman sites were beautiful, and everyone was professional. I have been to a few events like this, but you can tell the staff and guides were also having a great time. A blend of wilderness medicine, along with the much needed “this is what really works, I know I tried it” knowledge. I would recommend to anyone wanting to explore and learn outside the box.”

Jeremy, 2017 Desert Medicine course attendee

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Join us in January 2020 and experience our Desert Medicine course for yourself. Be part of something amazing and take your extreme medicine career to the next level.
Book your place today!

Other blogs that may be of interest, include:
Why Shariqiya Sands provides the perfect desert classroom
Desert Medicine: kick start your career as an extreme medic
Meet the team behind our Desert Medicine course

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