Reflections on 2024 in pictures and thoughts …plus some 2025 spoilers …
Firstly, a huge thank you to all those who were Serving or working over the festive period - supporting others. Thank you for what you do.
🙏
Secondly, we wish everybody an amazing, happy, healthy, fulfilling and successful 2025.
Below, you’ll see a pictorial and narrative review of 2024. We continue to support individuals to invest in themselves and their adventure/medical/research/operational objectives and cost effectively train with experienced professionals delivering fit for purpose training. For organisations, make 2025 the year you put in place fit for purpose remote area risk management and remote area medical training, to meet your legal and moral Duty of Care.
We’ll spend a few paragraphs taking about what we do - and, importantly, why ? …Then we’ll look at some highlights of we did across 2024.
This resonates very strongly with our ‘why’ - supporting organisations to comply with their duty of care in remote area operations.
Our organisation grew out of a strong sense, by our Director, (a long standing remote area ops and expedition sector subject matter crisis response & risk management expert, who had been involved in developing the sector safety standards and working directly with leading sector organisations and expedition / exploration companies, described and recommended as a ‘leader in the field’ by relevant sector texts), that suitable training needed to be developed and put in place, at accessible cost, to allow people to operate safely in remote areas. This wasn’t any flash of insight, it was based on two decades of dealing with remote area incidents at a forensic level, defending organisations in court cases at the highest level and dealing with often tragic cases.
Common themes arose.
From his own expedition experiences in jungles, deserts, mountain, arctic circle expeds, he had a strong sense that there needed to be higher levels of fit for purpose training in both risk management and medical for non health care professionals and wider skills and risk management training, along with real work medical training for health care professionals operating in remote areas.
One recurrent theme was the lack of training covering what to do if help wasn’t coming any time soon.
The aim was to encourage and support organisations doing great things in the field, from education to expeditions, SAR to TV media and more.
Risk management is not about stopping all activities that could possibly result in some harm. It’s not about stopping all activities with some risk. It’s about managing risk and reducing likelihood and levels of harm appropriately.
Risk management is an enabling tool, not something that should stop you doing things. It’s about how you do it with the risks lowered to the lowest acceptable level.
A number of the existing Faculty were members of a SAR team, alongside our Director. They joined the initiative and remain central all these years later.
Our Director sought out the best of those he’d trained or been trained by, across medical and risk management. They remain involved today.
We’ve grown an expert Faculty over the years. Highly qualified and experienced in remote areas medicine AS deployed remote area medics.
Faculty members have dedicated many years to our objectives including working on and contributing to leading sector safety standards and texts including BS:8848, ISO:31030, the respective standards for fieldwork and expedition safety and travel risk management, as well as multiple medical texts (see the publications page of our website), including the Oxford Handbook of Expedition and Wilderness Medicine. 3 or our Faculty contributed sections for the publication as invited subject matter experts.
Stay safe, put in place appropriate safety systems. Have a happy, healthy and productive 2025.
As the UK’s centre of excellence for professional level, modular remote area risk management and remote area medical training, trusted by SAR to elite military medics, leading outdoor centres, expedition companies to leading Universities, 2024 was a very busy and very successful year - for all the team at our International Centre for Remote Area Medicine and our in our research arm - The Institute for Remote Area Risk & Medicine.
We have an exclusive partnership with the National Outdoor Centre in the remote area medical and risk management space.
We’re now in our tenth operational year since formal incorporation. Highlights from ‘open’ courses or events in 2024, that we have made public are below. Much of what we do is ‘closed’ courses or work for institutional clients that does not see the light of day.
From the ‘off’ we’d like to say a huge thank you to our hugely valued & respected Faculty of friends - and our clients and supporters, without all of whom none of this would be possible. Valued & respected, each & every one. 🙏
It’s also our great pleasure to have been able to support multiple military veteran charities in 2024, including, but not limited to; Climb2Recovery & Forces Wives Challenge.
We’ve provided plenty of pictures below demonstrating what we do - a picture speaks a thousand words:
We do what we say we do. Remote area risk management and remote area medical training is what we do. It’s all we do.
Our work includes training, deployments and expert Consultancy.
We are deeply rooted in the sectors we serve - we’ve been involved in writing the leading sector safety standards and expert texts - and we don’t take our place in those communities for granted - we always strive to provide the highest quality training available anywhere - at the lowest possible cost. Cost is a bar to engagement, to education and to raising standards so we seek to deliver the highest quality, most affordable courses. We must be achieving that aim as our clients regularly tell us to raise our prices !
Our standing in our communities is reflected in the fact that our Faculty have been sought out to speak at leading events in our sectors and invited to collaborate by leading academic establishments, as well as being selected to train the most elite entities in our sectors and to collaborate on new texts soon to be launched.
2024 was also a tough year on a personal front: a number of overseas collaborations (both Northern and Southern hemispheres) developments and UK initiatives were impacted as a result of the very sad loss of a direct family member which, understandably, hit very hard. Family always comes first.
We will be progressing those initiatives when the office opens again after New Year.
In the post below, we’ll look at a small number of our highlights of 2024 as well as a look forward to 2025 … plus some hints to 2026 and beyond …
Highlights of 2024 at a glance:
☑️ Delivering training to delegates from across the Globe, operating around the world, on every continent, every environment - as we do every year - but we NEVER take it for granted.
☑️ Working with three global Universities on research and development as well as educational programmes: all in the context of remote area medicine and remote area risk management.
☑️ Private sector research initiatives including the groundbreaking telemedicine research undertaken in Antarctica by one of our alumni and several of our faculty.
☑️ The launch of the world’s first PhD in Prolonged Field Care by an Assistsnt Professor at UCL - in association with ourselves, the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Medical College
☑️ Supporting multiple disaster response organisations deploying and operating around the globe in the immediate aftermath of incidents.
☑️ Supporting one of the most well known Aid organisations in developing and delivering its austere environment medical training package. This will continue into 2025 with train the trainer elements.
☑️ Main stage speaker on remote area risk management at the Royal Geographical Society - a great honour and recognition of our expertise. In addition, invitations to speak at leading international events.
☑️ Invitations to work on additional leading publications in our sectors
☑️ Launching our remote area risk management and remote area medical Podcast. We aren’t tied to any calendar deadline. Instead, thoughtful discussions to magnify lessons/points, introduce different perspectives and hear from other colleagues/alumni out there in remote areas, running expeditions (whether land, sea or otherwise), aid organisations, remote area tv/media safety, disaster responders, water safety experts and more.
☑️ Recording studio time prior to launching online materials for some of our sector leading coursers for both health care and non healthcare professionals.
☑️ Our Institute for Remote Area Risk And Medicine going from strength to strength in academic research, field tests and proof of concepts …with much more happening in 2025 on that front.
We’re very fortunate to have an exceptionally experienced Faculty of friends - all at the very top of their game, whether that is in remote area risk management or remote area medicine - as well as the unique training solutions that we deliver. Since our organisation was set up, we’ve been at the forefront of delivering professional level, fit for purpose training for those who will actually be using the skills in remote areas. This ranges from both those undertaking their first expeditions or fieldwork, to very highly experienced remote area medics, SAR, field teams, remote are researchers, TV/media safety experts, disaster responders and the most elite military medics, coming to us to validate existing knowledge and expand their knowledge and skills, to operate on every continent, in every environment, in a professional capacity.
Dedicated Professionals come to us to train for real world operations. Jungle, Desert, Mountain/Altitude, Marine, Polar.
It’s hopefully a sign we’re doing something right that we have delegates attending our training from across the Globe, leaving consistently rave reviews. See each course page or social media posts following courses, to see consistently exceptional testimonials. High praise indeed coming from such professionals.
Those coming to us for training include professional individuals and organisations, who have attended similar subject matter training with other remote area medical training organisations, from both the UK and across the Globe. Those delegates continue to provide exceptionally flattering and humbling feedback as to where they place us in comparison.
Most importantly, we know our training works - we get the field reports from individuals who have use the skills in anger in remote areas and have also read high level reports from institutional clients.
We’re great believers in cross training and we’ve repeatedly gone on the record to say that we’ve learned something from every course we’ve ever been on - with every provider. Be curious, cross train. Make your skills and knowledge the best they can be. Be the best you can be.
Knowledge, not kit, is key. But with the right knowledge you should be prepared enough in advance to have key kit with you.
In addition to our publicised ‘open’ courses, we’ve delivered a lot behind the scenes on private courses & projects that has made a big difference to multiple universities, NGO’s, aid organisations, disaster response, remote area tv safety, field scientists, expedition teams and significant others. Some of them are reflected below.
Despite being a personally difficult year, with the remarkable Faculty we have, we’ve kept all the plates spinning, launched new courses, been subject matter expert speakers at events, contributed to (multiple) sector leading professional texts, delivered the highest standard, professional level, fit for purpose training for doctors, nurses, paramedics, elite military medics including those from the most elite SOF and SF units, disaster responders, household name international NGO’s, field teams to expedition leaders, operating on every continent, in every environment… as we do every year.
We’re actively involved in research and supporting new kit coming to market to support our niche sectors. We have deployed around the world & we’ve been involved in fascinating research, new publications, been main stage subject matter expert speakers at leading events, involved in new international collaborations & projects… with more about to commence.
We’ve also had a host of instructors coming from other organisations to upskill.
Our Special Projects team has been busy outside the UK, providing specialist training support and services. Much of what we do doesn’t reach social media. The reward is in knowing that what we do makes a significant difference, at scale, where it’s needed. It literally is its own reward.
2024
This last year was so busy, we’ve picked just a handful of highlights:
2024 started out with some of our docs up in Norway at our training site, deep in the Arctic Circle.
Shortly after the New Year, we were training degree and masters degree students from a leading University. The subject ? - remote area risk management before they started planning the expeditions that were part of their courses.
We’ve been training Universities - both students and staff - for many years. Our training works. It’s been tried and tested for years, on every continent, in every environment.
It’s always nice to receive posts from the field so, very early in 2024, it was great to see one of our alumni - an environmental scientist - from the Scott Polar Research Institute posting from the West Antarctic Ice Sheet… proudly displaying their Remote Medical Responder: A Wilderness First Responder course™️ patch, following his training with us.
We train a LOT of people deploying to Polar regions - from Polar Guides, polar sea kayaking guides, field scientists, pilots to logistics staff and independent adventurers.
Our 7 day face to face Remote Medical Responder: A Wilderness First Responder course™️ (plus extensive pre study) is tried, tested and trusted by those companies and individuals operating in Antarctica and our courses meet the international standards for WFR courses - both in terms of content and duration.
For health care professionals, we have our 7 module R/EMO:TE Medic Programme.
More antarctica pics arrived later in January 24, from Faculty and one of our R/EMO:TE Medic Programme alumni undertaking cutting edge/starlink based telemedicine research in antarctica - incepted and run by our alumni member.
Subject of one of our podcasts : we interviewed them in the field … by zoom, using starlink:
Its always nice to be appreciated and do some good - a lovely video from the field from our clients at RE:ACT disaster response, one of our overseas disaster response/aid sector clients - highlighting and discussing the value of the training that we deliver to them, from training their first responders as we as health care professionals, from Remote Medical Responder: A Wilderness First Responder course™️ for non health care professionals and the R/EMO:TE Medic Programme™️ for health care professionals, plus wound care, dentistry, prolonged field care, our unique remote area emphasis Pre Hospital Trauma Life Support courses and risk management courses for international responders across the board.
March saw the publishing of the worlds first Phd into PFC - by an Assistant Professor at UCL. Those inputting data/ informing the phd study were ourselves, the UK Ministry of Defence and the UK Defence Medical College.
In addition to UCL, we’ve been working with the Institute for Human Physiology at Bangor University on hypothermia, SAR/disaster response context Prolonged Field Care. The research results are in and the report finalised. We now just have to turn it into a formal paper for publishing.
We’ve also been invited by a third University to engage with them in providing our expertise in both remote area risk management and remote area medicine for an online training programme launching in early 2025.
We’ve run multiple of our remote area medical and risk management courses - including our Remote Medical Responder: A Wilderness First Responder course. This included to disaster responders from multiple organisations, expedition leaders, field scientists, geo scientists, SAR, TV Media and many more:
Plus multiple of our unique and rave reviewed civilian expedition/field operations Prolonged Field Care courses:
