On Day 2 of the 2018 World Extreme Medicine Conference delegates gained a better understanding of the many aspects of Disaster & Humanitarian Medicine.

The world faces new crises every day, both manmade and natural and throughout Day 2 of the conference, world-renowned medics and humanitarians shared their hands-on experiences and learning through informative and inspiring talks, plus practical workshops, fresh from the field.

Here are a few highlights from Day 2:

• Think you need to be a doctor to deploy with an Emergency Humanitarian Response team? Think again. MSF doctor, Natalie Roberts, shared 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.
• How we are where we are now – an interesting mix of doctors, paramedics and nurses all with extensive experience in trauma, mass casualty and highly volatile and dangerous settings, including war zones, search and rescue, displacement crises and outbreaks discussed how they ended up taking their medical career to the extreme!
• We heard from military medical historian Dr Emily Mayhew for her insightful talk on ‘The Battle of Mosul, 2016-17’. In the course of the battle, the entire shape of the humanitarian infrastructure and history that we take for granted was remade. 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.
• After receiving such strong praise from the 2017 conference workshop, Pippa Letchworth and Benjamin Black came back by hugely popular demand with their ‘Maternal and Neonatal Health in Low Resource Environments’ workshop. They ran through the essential basics of managing maternal health, vaginal delivery, prevention and treatment of post-partum haemorrhage, early pregnancy complications and family planning.
• The Wound Dressing Workshop: delegates learnt fundamental hands-on skills in dressing wounds from expeditionary nurse, Ben Cooper. Ideal for doctors and paramedics who get fewer opportunities to practice this skill (plus you got to keep the dressings to practice at home).
• Taking to the main stage, our ‘Doctors Under Fire’ panel including Saleyha Ahsan, Hamish De Bretton Gordon (both co-founders of this organisation), Natalie Roberts and Niall Aye Maung, talked about their work and experiences in war zones across the world including Syria and Aleppo.

Join us this year where for the first time in WEM history, we’re hosting a virtual conference (17th & 18th Oct) – so you can be inspired from the comfort of your sofa (or, frankly, from wherever in the world you can get online). Book your place today!