Wemcast

In this chat Becky Hartshorn discusses her successful completion of the Pacific Crest Trail. Known as the PCT, it is America’s second longest trail, stretching from Mexico to Canada through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. The route takes in many of America’s most scenic and varied terrain—from desserts to mountains to alpine plateaus. The PCT is 2,650 miles long (4,265 kilometres). Starting in Campo, a small town on the United States-Mexico border, it goes through California, Oregon, and Washington before reaching its northern terminus at the United States-Canada border in Manning Park, British Columbia. The trail is divided into 30 sections: 18 sections in California, 7 in Oregon, and 5 in Washington. The average length of each section is 91 miles. Becky Hartshorn is a Junior Clinical Fellow/F5 doctor currently working in Emergency Medicine in Sheffield. Becky is interested in Wilderness and Expedition Medicine, and has completed one of the World Extreme Medicine courses in Slovenia and is

On the anniversary of the war in Ukraine beginning, in this session we speak with Mark Hannaford, Luca Alfatti, and Aliona Hlivco around the current logistical aid efforts, implementation, climate and anecdotal reflections in Ukraine. We also dig into the of change in the current climate from an infrastructural perspective, logistical effort and the real need on the ground from the guest’s experience. https://worldextrememedicine.com/blog/humanitarian-medicine-posts/medics4ukraine-fundraising-appeal/ 

In this episode Deb Swann talks to Eoin Walker about her recent deployment to Hatay, Turkey, near the border with Syria in response to the recent devastating earthquake with the UKISAR team. Deb is an Advanced Clinical Practitioner and a member of the World Extreme Medicine faculty. Deb has been a part of the UKISAR team for ten years and is the only nurse on their rescue team. In this podcast she reflects on her experience of her most physically and emotionally challenging deployment to date, and her thoughts around the team she worked within, the patients she treated and the communities they helped.

In this session we speak with with Rebecca Marcussen-Lewis on maternity training in Low- and Middle-income countries and developing contexts. Rebecca is a trained Midwife and graduate of the MSc in extreme medicine and has recently been working on the ships with SOS Méditerranée. SOS MEDITERRANEE is a humanitarian organisation that advocates on behalf of all people in distress at sea, without partiality as concerns their nationality, country of origin, social belonging, religious belief, political or ethnic affiliation. Since it first started operating at sea in 2014, SOS MEDITERRANEE has been patrolling the central Mediterranean in international waters between Italy and Libya where most boats in distress occur. The rescues take place outside Libyan territorial waters (known as the 12-mile zone). Rebecca talks through what she has learnt when she has been involved with both training and practising midwifery on these ships. Rebecca is a clinical midwife and is currently working in Search and Rescue in the Cent

Jonah is a 5th Year Medical student at the University of Dundee. Jonah has been whitewater kayaking since he was 12. This passion recently took Jonah as part of the British University Kayak Expedition team to Central Kalimantan, Borneo. This 6 week expedition focused on descending unexplored sections of whitewater deep within the rainforest. The team had to be totally self-sufficient and with no support team everything had to fit in the back of a kayak. Jonah discusses the challenges of delivering medical care not only as a medical student, but with a first aid kit small enough to fit in the back of a boat. All the while navigating grade V rapids, flashfloods and dealing with unfriendly locals. He chatted to Deb Swann about planning and executing an expedition as a medical student.

Susan Schiller holds the rank of Deputy Superintendent for Boston Emergency Medical Services (BEMS) and has over 30 years’ experience as a critical care medic and clinical researcher. In 2011 she was promoted to Shift Commander overseeing tactical operations in the field.  She is the recipient of numerous awards including, the Pozen Paramedic of the Year award for exemplary medical care; the Lashman Humanitarian Award for exemplifying compassionate care; is a 3-time recipient of the Unit Citation for extraordinary action in the line of duty; and is a 7-time recipient of the Pre-Hospital Save Medal for extraordinary resuscitation in the austere environment. Susan is a former adjunct faculty member of clinical training for the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences and is currently adjunct faculty for the Boston Medical Center’s ACGME EMS Fellowship. She has lectured nationally and internationally on multiple pre-hospital subjects including the response to the Boston Marathon Bombings. She h

Simon is a mindset coach who combines his elite military background in UK Special Forces with neuroscience and psychology to build systematic programmes which remove limitations, unlock peak mental & physical performance and forge mental toughness. Simon chats to World Extreme Medicine podcast host Deb Swann focussing on resilience. Simon follows the ethos that mindset is a skill set. He shows how ad hoc strategies like motivational videos or the odd bit of mediation fail to change negative thought and behaviour patterns in the long term. Through actionable steps Simon teaches others the power to remove limiting beliefs that lead to stress, anxiety, fear of failure and self-sabotage, and build true confidence no matter what the challenge is. You can find out more about Simon's company, the Natural Edge here www.thenaturaledge.com 

In this episode Dr Will Duffin takes a deep dive into Dr Iserson's book: 'Improvised Medicine'. Dr Iserson is Professor Emeritus of Emergency medicine at The University of Arizona and former Medical Director of the Southern Arizona Rescue Association. He has published hundreds of scientific articles on emergency medicine and biomedical ethics and authored numerous books. Dr Iserson describes Improvised medicine as 'a spectrum of ad hoc equipment and special methods and knowledge for advanced health care practitioners' with an emphasis on 'opening your mind to ways of solving problems in a crisis and providing options for you (and your patients) when alternatives seem limited or nonexistent.' 'The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer' -US Air Force. In this episode the pair discuss: The origins of improvised medicine and how it draws on the history of medical practice through the ages. Some techniques are surprisingly effective even today. Hypnosis as effective analgesia Diagn

In this session we are speaking with Ryan Atkinson about his vast experience working across the globe as a cinematographer. Ryan has spent 12 years filming wildlife and science filmmaking for the likes of the BBC Natural History Unit, Netflix and National Geographic. His work has taken him to over 50 countries on 6 continents, specialising particularly in polar and mountain environments and has seen him join expeditions of all shapes and sizes; from a 20 strong team abseiling into the world’s most active volcano, to months spent following polar bears across the Norwegian pack ice, and long solitary hours on skis looking for foxes amongst the Canadian wilderness. No stranger to expedition hazards, he gets very cold hands after experiencing ‘minor’ frost nip in -37 degrees, has been medevac’d following a scorpion sting in Tanzania, and has ongoing adventures involving jungle fungus. Having also volunteered for 8 years as a member of mountain rescue, his life took a slight turn with the onset of the Covid-19 pan

In this episode we are examining the recent strikes and pay freeze that frontline paramedics have been experiencing. This is on the background of increased cost of living and operational pressures across the emergency care system. We will focus both on Carl’s recent reflections of the issue and also the sense of community within the current strikes. We will also examine how this strike is different to others and indeed how the climate of the NHS is vastly different to that ever seen before. Carl Betts is no stranger to the World Extreme Medicine Podcast and has featured on previous episodes around critical analysis & critical mental health and reflecting on practice at the frontline. He has been a paramedic for over 10 years and currently working in Quality Improvement. He has also written a recent blog on his reflections of the strike action, the sense of unity and the multi-factorial climate of pressures that paramedics work in within the UK. You can read Carl's reflections here 

In this session we are speaking with Ben Watts and Jamie Pattison, both World Extreme Medicine faculty and retrieval/specialist paramedics. We wanted to both address and highlight the dangers of sudden cold-water immersion and do a deep dive into some of the pathophysiological pathways that occur. This is both in-light of recent events but also prospectively to promote discussion around the very real danger of cold-water immersion. Both Ben and Jamie have worked and indeed do work in the highlands of Scotland where temperatures frequently fall below zero. We know that upon water entry a series of physiological responses are evoked via cooling of the skin, superficial nerves and muscles in the limbs, and finally deep body tissue, all of which can result in hazardous outcomes. For further reading on this topic check out the articles below https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022346812007166 https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h418.long https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS

David Rovardi is a dual qualified pharmacist and paramedic and is currently working as a Specialist Practitioner with EMAS. He also works one day a week for the College of Paramedics advising the College on the latest legislation within Prescribing and Medicines Management. In this session Eoin speaks with David Rovardi around the current situation on prescribing rights for paramedics. There have been twists and turns of over 10 years and some of the key moments such as public consultation of CDs in 2014 and the turning point in legislation by the commission for human medicines in 2018.  They examine exactly where the profession is in relation to permission to prescribe, and also dig into the caveat of advanced practice, double unlock and what it means, what are who the ACMD are, the list of controlled drugs on the register, the joint letter with the Royal College of GPs, the strategy for the full list of CDs to be administered by paramedics, the difference between off licensed drugs and unlicensed drugs

In this session we will be interviewing Dr Lachlan McIver on his recent book, Life and Death Decisions, a memoir that combines Lachlan’s personal journey with loss of his father, working with international aid agencies, navigating war torn countries and low resource settings. In the episode we will be examining some of the over-riding themes, Lachlan’s reflections and some of his salient revelations from working in over 30 countries and regions. Lachlan specialises in rural & remote medicine, tropical medicine, and public health, and has a PhD in global health. He currently works as the Tropical Diseases & Planetary Health Advisor at the headquarters of Médecins Sans Frontières in Geneva. Lachlan’s work has taken him to thirty different countries, and he has published over forty scientific articles and textbook chapters. You can find out more about Lachlan here  https://drlachlanmciver.com/  https://twitter.com/lachlan_mciver

Dr Alicia Colman is an Explorers Club 50 member, Alicia is an archaeologist and ethnohistorian by background. Alicia has worked with governments and NGOs in Canada, the US, UK and Antigua. Her mission is to help us to better understand our past. Her expeditions have taken her from Namibia to Iceland. Today we discuss her expeditions, where they have led her, what she has learned, with a focus on mindset, and how to better understand each other. You can find out more about Alicia here https://aliciacolson.wixsite.com/aliciacolson  https://www.instagram.com/alicia_colson/  https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-c-891b001b

Dr Will Duffin speaks with Medics4Ukraine founders Mark Hannaford and Luca Alfatti, on the current need for medical supplies and combat casualty care training in Ukraine and how Medics4Ukraine was formed and developed to meet this. Mark and Luca also share their own reflections on triumphs, challenges and what lies ahead alongside what it’s like to travel east of Lviv during the course of their work. Anyone wishing to support this work through volunteering or donating please visit - https://gofund.me/048c706c Or contact Mark or Luca directly on: mark@extreme-medicine.com Luca@extreme-medicine.com Every donation will go directly into purchasing life-saving medical equipment for Ukrainian medical professionals, and civilians caught in the conflict. With World Extreme Medicine underwriting any logistical costs. The next convoy scheduled for Oct/Nov 2022. Learn more here https://worldextrememedicine.com/blog/humanitarian-medicine-posts/medics4ukraine-fundraising-appeal/ Follow us on Facebook, Instagram

Growing up Priteni was never sporty or particularly active, she liked being indoors as much as she liked being outdoors. It was not until sixth form that she did anything really adventurous and even now she thinks she only decided to do the Gold DOE Award because her friends were.  That experience, till this day, is one of her most precious memories and turning points in her life, when she looks back at it now she realises it was a catalyst, it showed her she had some wild in her and that it needed to be nurtured.  A year later she planned a trip with her friend to South East Asia and Japan. However it was not that big adventure that showed brought out her wild pursuit, it was DOE, walking across Dartmoor with map in hand and her existence on my back that gave her the courage and the confidence to feel she could achieve things and she has not looked back since. She now thrives on planning adventures whether it be sleeping out under the stars or dreaming of cycling to Australia to see friends. 

Dr Dan Pronk served on over 100 combat missions in Afghanistan as a frontline special forces combat doctor, where the casualties he treated were his fellow SAS soldiers and commandos, local civilians and even the enemy. The thrill of adventure and the challenges of battlefield medicine brought out the very best in Dan; he discovered a sense of purpose in pushing his medical skills and courage to the limits. But there was a cost. Dan Pronk has written his memoirs 'The Combat Doctor' and chatted to Eoin about the messages in the book and the powerful learning in the line of duty. Dan currently works as a Senior Medical Officer in the Emergency Department in a regional hospital and serves as the medical director for Techmed Australia. https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/author/dr-dan-pronk/  https://www.instagram.com/danpronk/?hl=en 

In this session we will be speaking with Dan Stretch on the challenges of casevac from Nepal and Pakistan. Dan works as the Operations Manager at Global Rescue LLC within the APAC region and has had to retrieve and coordinate retrieval of critically ill patients from some of the most challenging regions in the world. The region Dan operates in include the Himalayas in Nepal, and K2 in Pakistan. These mountain ranges are collectively some of the deadliest in the world and pose some of the most difficult retrievals that any air ambulance system could face. There has also been a 4-fold increase in retrievals post covid, something we will dig into further in the interview. In this conversation we will look at Dan’s approach to crisis response operations. Also, the coordination and logistics for transfer from these remote locations (includes air, ground, sea, etc.) and the training involved in maintaining operational response readiness. We will also look at the difficulties of getting accurate information from the

In this episode, Stephen Wood is joined by Allen Lewis, who is an Adjunct Professor with Columbia Southern University and an Associate Consultant for Emergency Service Consulting International in addition to performing emergency and security sensitive work outside the United States.  They discuss Allen's experiences in disaster response and humanitarian response while working in developing countries focussing on cultural competence. As a paramedic, he has worked in medical services aboard ships above the Arctic Circle, in de-mobilized child soldier camps in South Sudan, mobile high threat protection teams in Afghanistan, and aboard helicopters over Iraq. As a well-travelled instructor and consultant in the fire service and EMS profession, he has trained firefighters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, and Iraq. Mr. Lewis has lived, worked, or travelled to 98 countries in his 25 years of fire, rescue, and EMS experience. A significant amount his career has been spent in non-permissive envi

Jeremy Neskey a Paramedic and Combat Medic has been involved in Prehospital medicine for 20 plus years. With a focus on Austere medical care environments and experience working with National Park service Teams on Denali and in Yosemite National Park. He’s retired from the US Army where he worked as a Medic and mountaineering instructor at the Army Mountain Warfare school Teaching Basic, advance mountaineering and rope rescue over the last ten years he was NCOIC of the Rough Terrain Evacuation Course, Mountain Critical Care Course, the Military Mountain medical course and cold weather medicine. In this episode hosted by Stephen P. Wood Jeremy reflects on the medical operations in the mountains that he has been a part of. He looks at ore mission planning, how reactive to changing circumstances you have to be in complicated medical missions. He will discuss his experiences and what he focusses on in pre mission planning.  You can follow Jeremy on instagram @aroundthebendadventurers and www.youtube.com/c/Ar