Newsletter
JUNE 2008
Hello to all our readers and welcome to the latest edition of the Expedition Medicine eNews.
We have lots of exciting news in this edition; We are now taking bookings for our UK Dartmoor course; Lesley Thomson writes about our exciting diving course; Expedition Medicine Course Handbook now on sale and much more! We still have places left on our Jungle, Diving and Desert courses and our UK course in March, so get your skates on before you miss the boat on these.
We hope you enjoy this edition of eNews and happy reading.
What's in this issue:
Course news -what’s going on and where
We have our usual favourite courses lined up, as well as our NEW Desert and Diving medicine courses. Our courses are getting very popular with the Polar and EML UK courses always being oversubscribed. We think our new courses will be just as popular.
Polar Course - Norway 15th - 21st February 2009.
LIMITED TO 24 PLACES
A winter extreme climate expedition medicine course for or anyone wanting to work in a polar, high altitude or arctic environment. For further details click here.
EML UK Course - Keswick, Cumbria 9th - 12th september 2008 - wait list only, 28th - 26th March 2009.
Heatree Centre, Dartmoor - 11th - 14th May 2009
LIMITED TO 60 PLACES
Held in the stunning Barrow House, Keswick or on Dartmoor at the Heatree Activity Centre. This course is for anyone aspiring to become an expedition medic. Read about the recent course in the BMJ for further details about the course click here.
NEW FOR 2008 Desert Course - Namibia 17th - 23rd August 2008
LAST 8 PLACES LEFT
Expedition Medicine is delighted at being able to offer a comprehensive course for all those medical professionals responsible for clients, patients or team members in a desert environment. The course aims to introduce participants to the skills required to be a valuable member of a desert expeditionary team, and to care for and treat injuries and illnesses likely to occur in this harsh environment. Set in the stunning Damaraland area in Namibia, for further details click here.
NEW FOR 2008 Diving Medicine- Oman 2008 18th - 24th October.
LIMITED TO 30 PLACES
We are very excited at being able to offer an inspirational Diving & Marine Medicine Course for all those medical professionals responsible for clients or expedition team members in a diving or marine environment. The course aims to introduce participants to the skills required to manage the common medical problems, which may emerge in a diving or marine environment. For application forms or further details visit our website.
Jungle Course - Costa Rica 9th - 15th November 2008.
LIMITED TO 30 PLACES
Our jungle course is going from strength to strength. We are now running our third course in Costa Rica. Ideal for those interested in tropical and jungle medicine. For further details click here.
NEW | Expedition & Wilderness Medicine Book now on sale
 We are delighted to announce that you are now able to purchase one of the most comprehensive written handbooks compiled. Available as a downloadable PDF for £15 this A5 book by Drs Sean Hudson and Caroline Knox, is all you need to have if you are thinking of working in expedition or wilderness medicine.
‘An invaluable resource for anyone planning a trip in the outdoors, either as part of an expedition or a wilderness adventure’.
The authors have condensed the essentials of expedition and wilderness medicine into this marvellously detailed field guide. They have drawn together some of the most experienced medical expeditioners in the world to ensure the second edition is packed with practical advice on managing medical problems in the wilderness.
To download your copy NOW click here.
Expedition Medicine Launches a UK Dartmoor Course
 Our highly rated Expedition and Wilderness Medical Training Course is heading south!
Following the same schedule as our Lake District Course we hope that this course will attract some local interest from local medics. The aim of the course is to provide aspiring and experienced expedition doctors, nurses, paramedics and advanced medics with the skills and practical knowledge to become valuable members of an expedition team.
The Woodland Trust is the charity we support on our UK courses and we will be working closely with them to identify a local project by which the proceeds of the course will support.
For further details on the course click here.
Diving Medicine - Lesley Thomson
 Most of my diving has been in cold water. Not just the American definition of cold water, being anything less than 18ºC, but properly cold! UK winter diving of 5-6ºC for example, or Arctic Russia and Antarctic winter diving with sea temperature down
to -1.8ºC, together with air temperature down to -20ºC.
Perhaps it’s the splendour of travelling to dive by skidoo, ice particles glinting in reflected sunlight all around, breathe freezing on the scarf around my neck. Or is it the battle with the elements, when spindrift snow enters every crevice of clothing and covers the newly cut ice-hole. Or the continuous struggle to keep equipment warm and dry, to prevent freshwater ice from entering then regulator and causing a free-flow. Excitement is present with every dive, senses ready to detect the first rattle of ice forming in the regulator, a pull on the rope to signal a problem, or the eerie whistle of a seal singing beneath the ice!
Diving during the Antarctic winter is an extraordinary experience and I feel very lucky to have had this rare opportunity. The Antarctic continental land exhibits extremes in physical characteristics and severity of climate. But underwater, seasonal sea temperature fluctuations are minimal, often varying only between +1 to -2ºC, making Antarctic waters one of the most thermally constant environments in the world. These cold waters, however, have a vast seasonal change in nutrients, providing abundant summer food to an array of marine organisms. Summer diving may resemble diving in pea-soup during plankton blooms, but in winter the visibility allows spectacular diving conditions. As the sea freezes, wind no longer stirs up the surface. Sea ice restricts light filtering to the water beneath, limiting plankton and algal growth. Particles settle out of the water column, icebergs ground and become fixed in the frozen surface. The challenge of SCUBA diving in these conditions includes drilling or chain sawing an ice-hole, protecting equipment against cold, keeping the tender on the surface warm against raw winds and freezing temperatures, and working as a team to ensure safe underwater work, managing scientific instruments and cameras whilst wearing 8mm thick neoprene mitts!
 Under-ice diving is becoming more accessible to the adventurous (or mad?!) diver as centres in Russia, Norway and Canada run ice-diving courses. When Expedition Medicine first discussed a course in Medicine for Marine Environments, I thought that encompassing this with under ice diving would be ideal! The idea didn’t last for more than a breathe, and anyone wishing to go on the course will be pleased to hear that it will be run in Oman – in warm water!
The aim of the course is to provide medical and expedition experience for doctors hoping to go on future expeditions. We’ll experience a desert environment, based in a bay beside the Arabian Sea, with local guides and camp staff for support. Geographically we’ll be about 2½ hours south of Muscat, the capital of Oman. The minimum requirement for diving on the course is PADI Open Water Certificate, and there is opportunity before or after the course to gain further dive experience or qualifications at one of the Omani PADI Dive Centres.
We aim to provide an unforgettable experience of the marine environment, using daytime sessions of practical skills and lectures in the evenings, to enhance your understanding and enjoyment of the marine environment, and to enable you to be a bonus to any expedition. Fitness to dive, diving equipment, water rescue, boat handling, search and rescue techniques, dangerous marine creatures, sea kayaking…and more!
The course speakers have a vast range and depth of experience. Dr Mark Reid is an expert on marine animals and has previously worked alongside Steve Irwin. He has organised and led many diving expeditions. Mark Hannaford, Managing Director of EML is a power boat instructor, Director of ATD and leader of many desert expeditions. Rob Conway is a doctor form London, working at the Mayday Hospital London, who is also the medical advisor for Blue Ventures. I have experience in diving medicine from the hyperbaric units in both Aberdeen and Plymouth, and have conducted diving research whilst working in the Antarctic. I hope to give lectures on decompression illness, decompression theory, and under-ice diving!
Oman is a safe and friendly country that welcomes western visitors. Dress requirements are more relaxed than many neighbouring countries, and head cover is not required for women outside mosques. The rugged interior contains mountain ranges contrasting dramatically with desert plains and interspersed with lush valleys. The coastline is over 1000 miles long, with areas where mountains plunge directly into the Arabian Sea.
Oman offers the best diving in the Gulf. Underwater visibility consistently ranges between 15 – 25 metres. During October, the air temperature should be a pleasant
25-30ºC, but several degrees cooler at night. We will be staying in tents, with meals provided by local cooks. Sea temperatures are expected to be between 24-28C, thus probably only requiring a 5mm wetsuit. During the summer months (April to September), as the sea temperature rises, a 3mm wetsuit would suffice.
The range of marine life is amazing! There are a large number of endemic corals that have learnt to survive in sea temperatures above their normal temperature (over 30C during summer!). We hope to sea Spinner dolphins on the surface, and beneath the waves the colours will amaze you! Coral varieties include Table, Brain, Stag and Teddy Bear corals; several varieties of moray eel – Zebra, Honeycomb; sharks such as Lemon and Black-tip Reef sharks; turtles, lobsters, Sting Rays, Eagle Rays, sea cucumbers, octopi, sea slugs, various sea anenomes, Barracuda, Blue Triggerfish, Spotfin Lionfish, Blue Tang, Cornetfish, Parrot Fish, - to name only a few of the myriad species!
So, if you’re one to get excited about diving a new environment, and want to learn expedition techniques whilst enjoying an exotic location, come and join us!
For further information on our diving course click here.
Mountain Medicine Course | NEW for 2009
 We are planning a new course in 2009, to conclude our course portfolio.
The main content of the mountain medicine course is to introduce medics to the practical elements of working and providing medical cover in the mountains. The instructors aim to familiarise the team with the fundamental skills which are essential to treat and evacuate casualties in the mountains as well as covering the common conditions encountered at altitude. Where else could we run this course but in Nepal. In order to experience winter conditions in the mountains the course will be run in the beautiful amphitheatre and ridges of Annapurna with the sacred mountain of Machapuchere as a backdrop. At this time of year the snow cover is low and the team will be able to train and experience the environment without undue exposure to high altitude.
It's a stunning country and we believe will make a fantastic course.
To express an interest email Luci.
Media Work | Medics Needed
We are now getting more and media work requiring medics on media events such as photo shoots and TV documentaries. We are in need of getting together a database of those medics who'd be interested in this type of work, especially those with other interests/skills, such as kayakers, climbers, sky divers etc.
For those who are interested email Luci.
To view our media page click here.
Situations Vacant
We are getting more and more exciting media positions on our website as well as the usual interesting expeditions. Raleigh International are looking for Doctors and Nurses/Paramedics from the 23rd June - 14th August for a post in India, email Nicola Burwood, for further information; BSES require a medic for Peruvian Amazon post July-August 2008. Please visit our situations vacant page – for an opportunity of a lifetime click here.
Just Walk 2009 - REGISTRATION OPEN
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NEW FOR 2009
You can now choose either the 60km, 40km,20km or 10km routes.
The event is open to anyone who is keen to get their walking boots on and hike for charity.
'We had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves; this was mainly down to the outstanding organisation and wonderful staff. The atmosphere was brilliant. We will see you again next year.'
www.just-walk.co.uk.
Join Across the Divide on a fundraising challenge
 Open charity challenges are designed so you can raise money for a charity of your choice - it could be your local hospice or a major cancer charity. Across the Divide have been delighted at the response to their new open events for 2008 and 2009 .
For 2008 we have a few places left on our Peru, Kilimanjaro and China events. In 2009 we have some fantastic NEW events including:.an India bike ride, Trekking in Jordan and a project in Namibia- so book now to avoid disappointment later. Find out more about Across the Divide here.
For further information on our open events email Susan McDonagh.
Blog links
If you have your own blog and you think it is an interesting read for other expedition medics then please contact us and we'll see about linking to it.
Namibia Marathon
 Following the success of this year's Namibia Ultra Marathon event we have now set the date for 2009.
To view this year's results, book online, view runners blogs, or look at the other races we offer visit our Adventure Racing Website.
Coming soon - Grand Canyon Ultra and Andalusia Ultra Marathons.
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