World Extreme Medicine

02/06/2026

What happens when medicine is practised in environments where evacuation is delayed, resources are limited, and conditions are unpredictable?

Join us on Thursday 25th June at 7pm for a live webinar exploring the MSc in Extreme Medicine, delivered in partnership with the University of Exeter.

This online session will provide an overview of the programme, whether you’re actively considering applying or simply curious about the future of healthcare in austere environments, this is an opportunity to hear directly from the team and ask questions about the programme.

📅 Thursday 25th June
🕖 7:00 pm BST
💻 Online

Register for free ⤵
d20a82f4-7818-470e-a6da-7695e77a8270@97e7652d-4394-4d0e-b3a5-ec7a84858a69" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d20a82f4-7818-470e-a6da-7695e77a8270@97e7652d-4394-4d0e-b3a5-ec7a84858a69

31/05/2026

We wanted to share an opportunity from CADUS for anyone in our wider community who may be eligible or interested.

CADUS are currently recruiting for a Training Coordinator position in Ukraine, supporting medical training and education programmes focused on paediatric trauma care, MedEvac, and psychosocial resilience.

The role includes:
+ Coordinating training delivery
+ Supporting local & international trainer teams
+ Working with healthcare partners across Ukraine
+ Assisting with operational and educational planning

📍 Home-based within Ukraine with travel required
📅 12-month contract
⚠️ Applicants must be Ukrainian nationals or hold valid residency/work permits in Ukraine

This feels particularly relevant for those with backgrounds in healthcare, education, humanitarian response, or operational medicine.

Important disclaimer:
World Extreme Medicine is not affiliated with this position or the recruitment process. Please do not contact WEM regarding applications or eligibility, all questions must go directly to CADUS.

More information here ⤵
https://form.asana.com/?k=SgD1gyaiXl84B4V8ic7a4Q&d=905616002382993

29/05/2026

A cave rescue in Laos is reminding the world just how unforgiving remote environments can be.

This week, international rescue teams have been working to reach and evacuate villagers trapped inside a flooded cave system in central Laos after flash flooding cut off their exit route. One survivor has now been successfully rescued, while efforts continue to locate and evacuate the remaining individuals.

What stands out is not just the rescue itself, but the operational reality behind it.
Narrow passages with zero visibility, rising water levels, and limited access.

Not forgetting factors such as difficult communications, the exhausted casualties, and international teams working together under immense pressure.

These situations sit at the intersection of medicine, logistics, human factors, technical rescue, and decision-making in uncertainty.

It's a reminder that emergency medicine doesn't always happen in well-lit departments with immediate access to equipment, specialist teams, and evacuation pathways. Sometimes it happens hundreds of metres underground, in confined spaces, where every decision carries additional risk for both casualty and rescuer.

As the operation continues, our thoughts are with the villagers still awaiting rescue and the teams working tirelessly to bring them home safely.

Stories like this highlight why training for austere, remote, and resource-limited environments continues to matter.

Read the latest:

Rescuers are still looking for two other missing villagers.

29/05/2026

✨ Speaker Focus Friday! ✨

What happens when your kit runs out… but the emergency doesn’t?

At , Adam Gent will be leading a series of sessions exploring the realities of delivering care in remote, austere, and high-pressure environments where textbook solutions don’t always exist.

From improvised wilderness first aid techniques and casualty management with limited resources, to understanding how adrenaline impacts decision-making under pressure, Adam’s sessions are built around practical thinking for real-world environments.

Adam has spent more than two decades developing and delivering specialised remote and pre-hospital training across the world, including work in Borneo, Dubai, Kenya, Liberia, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Ukraine, and mountainous regions across Europe.

Adam's sessions:

- Improvised Wilderness First Aid Techniques
- Understanding Adrenaline: Maintaining Operational Performance in High-Stress Environments
- “Is There a Doctor on Board…..!!?” Panel Discussion

Where: WEM26, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
When: 14th - 16th Nov 2026*

WEM26 brings together global clinicians, expedition medics, humanitarian responders, and specialists working in some of the most challenging environments on the planet.

Grab your tickets and join us in Edinburgh this November:
https://worldextrememedicine.com/world-extreme-medicine-conference/

*as we approach the event the times may change slightly, however updated times will be available via the agenda page on our website, or via the conference app.

28/05/2026

There’s something very surreal about discussing medical care where evacuation simply… isn’t possible.

Next week, we’ll be heading to Muncaster Castle for our Space Medicine Course, bringing together astronauts, physicians, engineers, healthcare professionals, and explorers to examine the realities of medicine beyond Earth.

From microgravity physiology and inflight emergencies to isolation, human performance, and operational decision-making, the course explores challenges that are increasingly shaping the future of healthcare in extreme environments.

And the best part? So much of what we learn from space medicine translates directly back to medicine on Earth.

We still have a handful of places remaining for anyone wanting to join us next week.

Find out more & book your place here ⤵
https://worldextrememedicine.com/extreme-medicine-courses/space-medicine-course/

26/05/2026

There are SO many perks to alpine training… and honestly?

Sitting in a lecture theatre just can’t compare to learning medicine in the shadow of Mont Blanc.

This Training Course in Chamonix is designed for healthcare professionals who want to take their clinical decision-making into the mountains and learn what happens when terrain, altitude, weather, fatigue, and limited resources completely change the way you approach care.

Over five days you’ll explore a range of topics, including alpine trauma & mountain rescue, Avalanche awareness & cold injuries, Acute mountain sickness, HACE & HAPE, Crevasse rescue techniques, and soooo much more.

And the best part? You’ll be out in the mountains applying it in real environments alongside experienced faculty, mountain guides, and rescue professionals.

PLUS your accommodation, meals, lift passes, ropes & climbing equipment are all included. ⛏️

Whether you’re interested in expedition medicine, mountain rescue, remote healthcare, or just want to push yourself somewhere completely different… this course is such a unique experience.

Key details:
📍 Chamonix, France
📅 21st - 25th Sept 2026
🎓 Awarded 30 CPD hours by RCSEd

Check out the course & join us in Chamonix:
https://worldextrememedicine.com/extreme-medicine-courses/alpine-medicine-course/

24/05/2026

When people think about humanitarian medicine, they often picture the immediate emergency consisting of a disaster zone, a field hospital, and frontline response.

But the truth is; humanitarian healthcare is far more complex than that.

Humanitarian medicine is about understanding how healthcare systems function when infrastructure is disrupted, learning how to adapt clinical decision-making when resources are limited, and balancing individual patient needs with population-level impact, public health priorities, logistics, safeguarding, communication, and security.

It’s also understanding the human side of crisis response, typically by asking these questions:

How do you support vulnerable populations ethically?

How do you protect your own wellbeing while working in high-pressure environments?

How do you make safe, effective decisions when there isn’t a perfect protocol to follow?

Our Humanitarian Medicine Training Course is designed to explore those realities honestly and practically through expert-led teaching, workshops, case discussions, and shared experience from clinicians who have worked directly within humanitarian and disaster settings.

Across four days, attendees explore topics including (but not limited to):

▪️Humanitarian principles and health systems
▪️ Public health, WASH, and disease control
▪️ Resource-limited clinical decision-making
▪️ Mental health and psychological first aid
▪️ Humanitarian logistics and security
▪️ Ethics, safeguarding, and vulnerable populations
▪️ What humanitarian deployments actually look like in practice

Because effective humanitarian care depends on much MORE than medicine alone.

📍Corfe, UK: 7th - 10th Sept 2026
📍Sydney, Australia: 7th - 10th Sept 2026

If you’re interested in humanitarian response, global health, austere medicine, or understanding how healthcare operates in crisis settings, we’d love to welcome you to the course.

Find out more: https://worldextrememedicine.com/product-category/extreme-medicine-courses/humanitarian-disaster-medicine/

23/05/2026

“You can’t just call an ambulance in space.”

We recently spoke to astronaut, physician, and flight surgeon Mike Barratt about the realities of practising medicine beyond Earth and why space medicine forces clinicians to rethink almost everything they know about emergency care.

Because in space, there’s no nearby trauma centre, or rapid evacuation, and certainly no definitive care facility waiting nearby.

What you have… is what you have.

Mike explained how astronauts can lose around 15% of plasma volume and 15% of red blood cell mass during spaceflight, meaning even a relatively “simple” bleed can become far more dangerous.

But the challenges go far beyond physiology as space medicine also requires an understanding of spacecraft systems, radiation exposure, environmental controls, isolation, risk, and human performance under pressure.

One thing Mike emphasised throughout the conversation this:

“Prevention. Prevention. Prevention.”

Because when evacuation may not be possible, avoiding the emergency is often safer than trying to manage one.

You can explore the full interview with Mike and join us at Muncaster Castle, Cumbria for our Space Medicine Course, where astronauts and experts working directly within aerospace and extreme environments explore the realities of medicine beyond Earth (no previous experience required).

Learn more: https://worldextrememedicine.com/extreme-medicine-courses/space-medicine-course/

21/05/2026

There’s a very different feeling stepping into cold water when you’re carrying responsibility with you.

Our Ocean Medicine Course in Brixham is designed to prepare healthcare professionals for the realities of working in maritime and water-based environments through practical, scenario-led training.

From casualty care at sea and cold water survival to communication, leadership, and decision-making under pressure, this course takes learning beyond the classroom and into real-world environments.

Bookings close this Friday 22nd May at 12pm BST!

If you’ve been considering joining us, now’s the time to secure your place.

Learn more: https://worldextrememedicine.com/extreme-medicine-courses/ocean-medicine-course/

19/05/2026

Earlier this month, we spent an incredible week at our Expedition & Wilderness Medicine Course in Plas Y Brenin.

From hands-on scenarios and clinical discussions to shared meals, mountain views, and conversations that carried long into the evening, it was a reminder of how valuable these environments can be for learning and connection.

One of the best parts of the week was seeing attendees from different backgrounds come together to collaborate, challenge themselves, and develop new skills in a supportive environment. Watching that confidence grow across the course is always something special.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the week what it was.

If you’ve ever been curious about expedition or wilderness medicine, or you’re looking to develop your skills in remote and challenging environments, we’d love to welcome you onto a future course.

Find out more about the Expedition & Wilderness Medicine Course here ⤵
https://worldextrememedicine.com/product-category/extreme-medicine-courses/expedition-wilderness-medicine/