NASA Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, based on the International Space Station (ISS), kindly took time out of her busy schedule to send the World Extreme Medicine Conference a superb message of support and give her thoughts on the annual World Extreme Medicine Conference.

Expedition Medicine at the extremes!!

ESA – European Space Agency Astronaut Maj Tim Peake kindly sent us this message on why he believes the WEM Conference is so relevant and important and tells us how he admires the skills & professional expertise required to practice expeditionary medicine, despite limited resources.

We are literally ‘over the moon’ with the welcome that NASA Astronaut Dr Kate Rubins’ on the International Space Station filmed for our World Extreme Medicine Conference ’16!

Kate has the distinction of being the first person to sequence DNA in Space and is a strong exponent of the benefits of expedition medicine.

An introduction to extreme medicine from WEM Co-founder, Mark Hannaford, and our Day 1 Chairs: Laura Penhaul & Chris Imray.

Prof. Chris Imray talked about new research that highlights altitude impacts on physiology, including insights from carotid surgery and cerebral pathologies; as well as introducing the concept of Extreme Altitude Cerebral Dysfunction.

#WEM18 saw the British Army’s six-woman Ice Maidens present on their incredible expedition where they clocked up an impressive 1,700 kilometres skiing across Antarctica on muscle power alone in a 61-day expedition. Plus, they also presented new research based on performance at extremes.

Scott’s talk firstly examined the ability of the most extreme environments, such as Space, high altitude, deep sea and volcanic areas. He then considered the ability of such environments to produce ‘disruptive innovation’.

Steve looked at the greatest feats of human endurance in the polar regions, especially Antarctica, and analysed some of the historical journeys and compared them with the latest unsupported journeys.

As well as talking about The Poles and expedition medicine, Mike also discussed the concept of ‘Teleology’ and how we look and respond to extreme environments from an evolutionary perspective.

Marc discusses and describes in detail how as we start looking at moving beyond lower orbit the preparations we do for astronauts and crews, for understanding the medical implications of long duration space flight beyond earth orbit become much more important.

EVA – Extravehicular Activity or ‘Space Crawling’

NASA astronaut and explorer Scott examined EVA physiology and operations, with real-world examples from his career that included 7 spacewalks.

As the first (and so far only) woman to row solo across the world’s ‘Big Three’ oceans – the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian – Roz joined us on stage and shared her unique story and her theoretical and very practical experience of radical personal transformation. She inspired other like-minded adventurers to think again about what is possible and how they can reach their full potential.

Can you tell if you are cold? Can anyone else tell if you are cold, even if they have a thermometer? In his presentation, Prof Mike Tipton reviewed the perception of cold, the impact of cold on the body, the measurement of body temperate, the consequences of cooling in air and water and the nature and treatment of cold-related problems in the field.

Steve Mannion & Josie Gilday welcome you to Day 2 of #WEM18 – Disaster and Humanitarian Medicine.

Filmmaker and journalist Dr Saleyha Ahsan interviews Paul Conway, a freelance photographer and filmmaker who works in the British media. A former soldier with the Royal Artillery between 1980 and 1987, he has since worked extensively as a journalist in combat zones, producing footage from conflicts in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Libya.

Hamish talks about the relatively new threat, the CBRN threat in the humanitarian space around the world.

Jacob described the many challenges in delivering healthcare in the deplorable conditions of the detention centres. He highlighted the 10-fold increase that occurred in a matter of weeks in late 2017 and the MSF action-assessment of the detention centre in Zuwara, which included a mass scabies treatment campaign of 1000 people.

A discussion about the risk that health care providers are having to endure when delivering healthcare in the humanitarian space worldwide.

A presentation by Derek Sloan about the UK’s response to the Bangladesh CRISS to the Rohingya migrants.

Think you need to be a doctor to deploy with an Emergency Humanitarian Response team? Think again. MSF doctor, Natalie Roberts, shares her experience of being part of a role-diverse 24 hour response team; revealing cases encountered during 2018, from conflict and natural disasters to epidemics and vaccination campaigns.

Dr Mayhew explained the origins of our modern humanitarian response to conflict, how it is changing right now, and what we all need to do about it.

Dr Will Sharp discusses some of the challenges him and his team faced during rescues lasting over 60 hours as part of ‘Operation Litten’ in the Mediterranean.

Following an 8-month peace keeping mission in South Sudan as a Deputy Force Medical Officer for the United Nations missions, Cat Davison, GP and Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force shares her experiences and the challenges both her and her team faced.

Gaynor talks about ultrasound in remote and austere environments and how technology and is filtering down and our becoming a big part of our treatment and patient care.

A brilliant and incredibly inspiring session with Dr Richard Harris of the Thai Cave Rescue ringing-in to #WEM18 and talking through the medical aspects of that amazing rescue!
How to think outside the box to achieve the seemingly impossible!

How to, (and more importantly how not to) retrieve a critically unwell patient from Antarctica in the winter. In this talk, Tim describes the UK’s first winter retrieval from Antarctica.

Niall talks about our medical response to terrorist events in the UK and draw on some of the experiences gained from the military.

Pete discusses what to do in a pre-hospital setting and the differences and subtleties in treating paedriatric patients.

NASA astronaut Rick tells us what it’s like to fly in space as well covering a brief history and basic space physiology.

Eoin Walker, paramedic and trauma lead for WEM, and patient Vicky give their own account of events in this remarkable story.

In this thought-provoking, uplifting and entertaining session Will examined the extreme medicine paradigm in reverse. How can we take the ‘spirit’ of adventure and an adventure mindset back into our day job as NHS clinicians to make us more resilient, effective and fulfilled? What lessons can we learn from some of the great adventurers that would help us in the way we approach healthcare?

Exclusively unveiled at the 2017 World Extreme Medicine Conference, our panel of experts Saleyha Ashan, Linda Dykes, Pauline Cutting, Daniel Sedgewick, Alex Rowe and Sundeep Dhillon discussed how you can approach and introduce a flexible working system into your hospital department that could save you money as well as offering a variety of benefits for all medical staff – FLEXmed!

Exclusively unveiled at the 2017 World Extreme Medicine Conference, our panel of experts Saleyha Ashan, Linda Dykes, Pauline Cutting, Daniel Sedgewick, Alex Rowe and Sundeep Dhillon discussed how you can approach and introduce a flexible working system into your hospital department that could save you money as well as offering a variety of benefits for all medical staff – FLEXmed!

Fresh off the plane, Luca Alfatti, award-winning expedition leader and medic tells us what he’s been up to in Iran over the last few weeks and what he’ll be talking about in his workshop at #WEM17

Listen to information on Spaceflight Analogues for Future Exploratory Missions / Long Duration Missions from the panel Beth Healey, Research MD for the European Space Agency; Marc O’Griofa, Doctor and Aquanaut; Mike Barratt, NASA Astronaut and Physician and Nathan Smith, Senior Research Scientist.

Listen to information on Spaceflight Analogues for Future Exploratory Missions / Long Duration Missions from the panel Beth Healey, Research MD for the European Space Agency; Marc O’Griofa, Doctor and Aquanaut; Mike Barratt, NASA Astronaut and Physician and Nathan Smith, Senior Research Scientist.

Andrew Mott, a critical care paramedic and firefighter has been involved with international development and disaster relief for many years and this lecture focuses on the medical responses to the Mosul conflict in Iraq through his eyes as a paramedic, working alongside the Iraqi soldiers on the front line.

*Best watched with the volume on!*

The first few minutes of a multiple casualty terrorist attack are the most vital – would you know how to act?

Our hands-on practical workshops offer opportunities for all delegates to learn and practice medical techniques and skills that will help them rise to the challenge of practising expedition medicine in an extreme and low resource environment.

Do you know your VR from your AR? Your AI from your Raspberry PI? Your drone from your phone?

This interactive workshop shows the technology in care is progressing at an ever-faster pace, and it’s often tricky to keep up. How do we exploit these technologies, which sometimes suffer from teething problems, and can even be subjected to cyber-attacks because the world is more connected than ever? Do technologies help or hinder when it comes to extreme medicine?

Watch this snippet for a short insight.

Disaster and Humanitarian Medicine

The world faces new crises every day, both manmade and natural. Medics and humanitarians share their hands-on experiences and learning, fresh from the field.

Extreme, Expedition and Wilderness Medicine

Practice Expedition Medicine and take it out of a clinical environment. Deliver medical care ion the side of a mountain, underwater, out into the cold, in the jungle or up into space. Medical practice at its most remote, hostile, expeditionary and austere.

Human Endurance and Sports Medicine + Biomedical Innovation

Understanding human endurance and performance in sporting events. Management of acute and chronic injuries in the field of play. How to get involved in provision of medical care in sporting events.

Pre-Hospital Expedition Medicine

When medicine doesn’t happen at waist height… Complex, out-of-hospital and unscheduled care provision in urban, remote, expeditionary and low-resourced environments.