“I’m a constant learner. I can’t sit still,” declares Greg Miskle, a healthcare professional whose insatiable thirst for knowledge has propelled him through an astoundingly diverse 50-year career.
From humble beginnings as an ambulance cadet to tackling the challenges of remote medicine on offshore oil rigs, Greg’s journey is a testament to the power of lifelong learning.
Greg’s learning journey led him to World Extreme Medicine, where he immersed himself in our Expedition Medicine course in New Hampshire and the Hostile Environment course in Namibia. The latter, in particular, left a profound impact on Greg.
“We each had to carry a tourniquet all the time,” Greg recounts. “But then you’d be doing something. You’re just here. Tourniquet left arm. Now, rapidly put this on. Then they’d come around, make sure it was tight enough. Now, this sort of stuff, it was… It’s fun, but you know that you’re actually learning a skill.”
This intense, hands-on training proved invaluable during the course’s final scenario. “Having to do that was just proven, in that this bloke had a major bleeding… bang, the first thing that happened, before anything, a tourniquet went on and went on hard. And no one said anything. No one said, put a tourniquet on there or whatever. It was just the tourniquet went on. So, you know the value of learning. I can’t, I can’t speak highly enough of it.”
Greg’s enthusiasm for the World Extreme Medicine courses is palpable. “The beauty of these WEM courses is giving you the confidence to improvise when you don’t have all the gear,” he explains. “You’ve got the knowledge. It sort of builds confidence in your day to day work and should I come across something, or in fact, have to treat myself, especially if I’ve got to get a tourniquet on myself.”
The courses also provided invaluable opportunities for peer-to-peer learning. “I took so much away from the other participants,” Greg remarks. “You’ve got a lot of expertise from around the world – vascular surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, ED consultants, all these sorts of people.”
At 69, Greg shows no signs of slowing down. With plans to attend World Extreme Medicine’s Desert Medicine course in Oman and his sights set on their Polar Medicine training, he continues to seek out new challenges and learning opportunities.
“The prime driver for me originally was the learning and sort of academic challenge and practical skills acquisition. This provides all those things. It’s like-minded people in this learning environment that also ties in with travel,” Greg reflects.
From mastering tourniquets in the Namibian wilderness to preparing for the rigors of desert medicine, Greg Miskle’s journey showcases the limitless potential of a life dedicated to learning.
