Poster Competition Winners - World Extreme Medicine

Thank you to all the entries! We have received an incredible variety of submissions for both physical and digital posters, showcasing new original research, intriguing case reports, or thought-provoking topic discussions related to any area of Extreme Medicine.

The posters were judged by, Chris Imray, Professor and Mountaineer, Saleyha Ahsan, Emergency Doctor and PhD candidate and Will Duffin, GP and TV Doctor. The judging criteria was based on clarity, originality, relevance, impact and referencing.

Here are the winners, runners-up and all other entries:

Winners

#1

Women’s Health on Expedition | Noemi Welsch

Noemi Welsch explores the important yet neglected topic of women’s health in expedition environments. She analysed 73 survey responses from female expeditioners and found that nearly half came onto their period during their expedition, of which 15% were unexpected and 78% felt they couldn’t maintain a good level of hygiene. She found that mountain and high altitude environments were associated with the highest risk of unscheduled bleeding.

This work informs future trip planning and widens the conversation on what expedition companies could do better to support menstrual hygiene.

The panel particularly appreciated the originality of this work. The author was able to generate a strong sample size for this type of project alongside some meaningful outputs that will help to steer the conversation. The poster scored low on referencing but it really excelled in the other domains and was still able to snag the top spot.

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#2

SailGP Season 3 Injury Review | Matthew Linvill

Matthew Linvill’s audit of injury patterns in Professional sail racing on foiling catamarans found a rate of injury substantially higher than other sailing disciplines. Interestingly, knee, ankle and head injuries feature most prominently and a two fold increase in injuries of female sailors compared to their male counterparts was observed.

The panel were impressed by the overall clarity of the presentation and how the authors benchmarked their data against other competitive sports giving vital context. Analysis of injury data like this plays a huge role in driving improvements in safety in Extreme environments. The panel would have liked the authors to go one step further and suggest specific recommendations based on these findings.

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#3

Can We Use Portable Ultrasound to Diagnose Fractures in the Austere Environment? | James Pyke

James Pyke’s literature review identified the paucity of good quality evidence to support the use of portable ultrasound in the diagnosis of fractures in austere environments. He demonstrated sound methodology, dividing his findings into diagnostic, training/ operation and patient outcomes with developed ideas on proposed future research.

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Runners Up

Plant-based nutrition: the role of dietary choice on the development of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport in female athletes | Giorgia Bruno

Giorgia Bruno presents a literature review concluding that vegan female athletes are not at increased risk of relative energy deficiency in sport, providing they have adequate macro and micronutrient supplementation. RED S is a hot topic in elite sport and we felt that this was a well conducted review with a sensible discussion of what the research shows and where the gaps are. It narrowly missed out on a podium spot as the panel felt it suffered from information overload.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place Analysis of Cave Injuries in the UK | Janey Gregory and Brendan Sloan

Janey Gregory and Brendan Sloan poster is an analysis of 673 cave incident reports and identified some key injury patterns that can inform safety and medical response, including a high incidence of hypothermia with exhaustion in younger cavers and trips/falls leading to a high rate of lower limb injuries in an older age group. It also narrowly missed out on a podium spot.

Reasons for the delayed presentation of divers with decompression illness: a retrospective audit | Charlotte Innes

Charlotte Innes retrospective audit found that diving overseas, lack of technical diving qualifications and lack of dive site first aid are key factors that increased the risk of delayed presentation in decompression sickness in divers.

Prehospital Exposure: Pushing Boundaries in Medical Education | Hazel Shorrock

Hazel Shorrock presents a brilliant review of how the Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team is pushing the boundaries of medical education through running teaching scenarios and team building activities with medical students.

Report of two cases of an unusual dermatitis: Exercise-Induced Vasculitis | Marta Quistini

Marta Quistini presents two interesting case reports of exercise induced vasculitis with photographs.

Scuba Divers’ Pulmonary EDEMA. 14 Years Experience Review | Alba Urries Rodriguez

Alba Urries Rodriguez reviewed a case series of pulmonary oedema in divers discussing the common symptomatology, clinical and radiological findings.