Heat. Risk Management, balancing educational outcomes v health and safety and duty of care in training. A few thoughts.
- Jun 28
- 5 min read
Congratulations ! Heat. Risk Management, balancing educational outcomes v health and safety and duty of care in training.
Huge ‘Well Done!’ to all the delegates and Faculty on this weeks 7 day Remote Medical Responder™️: A Wilderness First Responder Course™️
Well done to everyone for just getting through the course amid UK record breaking heat & humidity. The most severe heat wave to hit Europe on record!
It was hot. Very hot. Hotter in fact than the hottest place on earth, Death Valley, is today, (according to the internet of things).
Conditions were such that outdoor sports were being cancelled en masse amid record breaking UK temperatures. Other folk were sent home to work, many schools were closed, a lot of train transport was impacted (power lines sag in the heat), there were calls to open cool havens for the public, the outdoors were unusually very, very, quiet… and our clients needed to complete their qualifications - some heading out on expeditions imminently and requiring certifications to work.
It’s in this space that, for remote medical training courses, plan B’s, risk assessment and dynamic risk assessment need to be balanced against achieving outcomes.
Safety is paramount.
Considerations are not just ‘how do we reduce the likelihood of impact of heat related injury/illness’ but also encompass the prism of ensuring meaningful education against a tough environment to learn in
This was a phase for education. Not an endurance test in heat or a critical mission where lives were at stake if rescuers did not reach the scene.
Probably the toughest course we’ve run in the UK, with several aspects having to be adjusted - others dropped - in response to ongoing and dynamic risk assessments arising from a short, sharp, very intense, highly unusual intervention by the weather.
Summer certainly seems to have been arriving earlier and hotter of the last few years. Will be interesting to see future trends.
Last week was incredibly hot, as a Heat Dome descended on the UK. Unseasonably hot. 37 degrees at 18.20 one night !!
Energy sapping, concentration sapping heat.
Many of us have experienced higher temperatures - it’s easy to be flippant - but these temperatures are usually experienced by UK folk in a context with either lower humidity or with pre acclimatisation in another jurisdiction … and not on an educational course where concentration is essential. It wasn’t just a case of keeping cool (valid learning still needed to take place). Students still have to take on board learning, apply it and undergo assessments and exams.
It’s the humidity that made the difference. The combination of heat and humidity made it very difficult for students, Faculty and safety alike.
It was more akin to the acclimatisation phase of an exped in Thailand than Eryri, Snowdonia.
Sweat dripping off Faculty while teaching, poor sleep, too hot to do what we’d traditionally do this time of year - we’d expect to be out on the hill on a plateau location, running scenarios, skill stations and even some of the lessons.
Last week was different.
Sun burn, heatstroke, heart attacks, drowning, all reported to be up by the health service.
Ironically, on our Off Site Safety Management course, we have a discussion session on heat stroke, we talk about heat stroke cases - including deaths. We look at risk mitigation arising from a notional archaeological fieldwork project in Death Valley (ironically, several courses have included delegates who, it turns out, had major heat related dramas in Death Valley).
By comparison, the temperatures in Death Valley today, are, according to the internet of all things, lower than what was experienced in Eryri, Snowdonia, last week.
A sobering comparison and a challenge to perceived realities.
Our job, to keep the course running and meeting learning outcomes while balancing educational value, effectiveness and need, against safety. Reducing risks to the lowest level reasonably practicable and discharging our duty of care.
Pre course discussions, lots of Faculty meetings during the course to micro manage, make adjustments due to dynamic risk assessments, some aspects moved around within the week to avoid the hottest parts of the week/day day, changing skill station locations to shaded locations, shorter, snappier scenarios , keeping delegates out the sun as much as possible, avoiding long duration scenarios, cold drinks and more.
Interestingly, the number of hot drinks consumed on the course was down to a record 10 year low. A fraction of the milk use over 7 days. First time ever. Instructive.
One of the delegates, an experienced expedition leader, voiced his concern that this may be the coolest summer we have going forwards. Time and stats will tell but it does give food for thought.
What might that lead to ?
Firstly, a changed summer operational context to prepare students for. Hotter summers = hotter expedition teams during peak summer exped windows.
Hotter summers, earlier - operational adjustments in the field.
Strong emphasis on heat related incidents.
Changing exped destinations/benefit from seasonal /hemisphere advantages.
Possibly air conditioning for classrooms, longer scenarios run at night, earlier starts, earlier finishes, more evening sessions, more content as pre study, shaded locations, shade tarps, enforced hydration breaks, fluids provision, monitoring delegates and Faculty fur heat related symptoms, emergency Heat Stroke kit on hand - all are adjustments/control measures likely to feature.
Our 2027 dates will be out soon. We may run the June course earlier in the month next year. We may design in longer, night time scenarios to mitigate the risk of losing day time windows for those elements.
Food for thought and for our 2027 planning meeting - dates out very soon.
A tough week. Everyone got through it - and with extremely good results in terms of practicals and RMR:WFR exam results.
Great feedback from delegates, despite the adjustments we’d had to make.
Thankfully the October course is likely to be back in to more familiar weather - rain ☔️ 🙂.
Last couple of places available for the October course, which will be the first delivery of our new, third edition of the course, to mirror/standardise with additions we’ve made to the second edition of our health care professional level R/EMO:TE Medic Foundation and to mirror some impending developments (watch this space).
More pre study, pre assessment covering pre study and more subject specific practicals to add to the existing c 15 scenarios and multiple skill stations across the course.
2027 dates out soon. 2027 dates will see more of our 9 day RMR:WFR option - the 7 day course immediately followed by our Prolonged Field Care Course. We’ve run these over the last few years as test courses.
When we first started running our 7 day WFR courses, we were told not one would attend. It was too long for the UK market. A 2 day outdoor first aid course was standard.
Cost and time wise, the UK market is still perceptually and financially, some way off being able to accept a 10 day WFR with inbuilt expedition, as standard for asked leaders, as is often the case in the U.S., but by offering our 7 day WFR with an optional 2 day mini, exped based, Prolonged Field Care Course at the end, it’s the ultimate test of skills off the 7 day course:
We’ve run this combination once a year for the last few years. Next year, we’re running an increased number of the 9 day programme options. Perfect for expedition leaders.
We might even push it and run a 10 day option… watch this space.
‘Where Professionals Come To Train.’
RAW: Remote | Austere | Wilderness™️
Comments