President: Australasian Wilderness & Expedition Medicine Society
Lead Instructor: Advanced Wilderness Life Support. Basic Wilderness Life Support, Wilderness Rescue Medicine, Tropical Rescue Medicine
Other Qualifications and Awards: GradCertAeroMedRet, GradDipEmerHlth(MP), BParaStudies, DipAmbParaStudies, BSc(Zool), WMS Warren D Bowman Award 2021
Kerryn had the opportunity to integrate his passion and his profession when he was granted a scholarship to investigate international models of medical response into wilderness settings in 2012. The resulting recommendations informed the establishment of Victoria’s state-wide paramedic wilderness response system. Kerryn then formed a company specialising in wilderness medicine and worked with others to introduce the AWLS program into Australia.
Kerryn has had the opportunity to facilitate the BWLS course on the Annapurna Base Camp trek in Nepal as well as volunteering with the HRA at Pheriche. Kerryn also lead the establishment of St John Papua New Guinea’s Ambulance Special Operations Team in preparation for the APEC leaders’ summit in Port Moresby. Recently Kerryn completed his FAWM and has led the establishment of the Australasian Wilderness and Expedition Medicine Society (AWEMS) as the peak body for the development of wilderness medicine across Australasia where he is the current president.
Lead Instructor: Advanced Wilderness Life Support, Wilderness Rescue Medicine
B.App.Sci(EALUP), MA, BN, GradCert(CC) Victoria, Australia
An enthusiastic walker and skier Duncan has explored many areas in Australia and overseas by way of human powered travel. A member of Alpine Search and Rescue he also holds qualifications in Advanced Wilderness Life Support, Critical Care Nursing and radio communications.
Deputy Director Emergency Services, Royal Melbourne Hospital
Senior Lecturer, Department Critical Care, University of Melbourne - Disaster and Terror Medicine
Emergency Trauma Management Course - Education Committee; Course Director, Instructor
The Alfred Procedures Course – Instructor
ACEM Trauma Emergency Medicine Network – Member; former Executive Director
She has subspeciality interests in Trauma, Toxicology and Infectious Diseases, with post-graduate qualifications in toxicology and tropical medicine, and teaches on several trauma management and emergency procedures courses, but is really most interested in adventure travel and hiking in exotic locations.
Chris is a strong team-player and is interested in the psychological aspects of interacting with others during big accidents, fatigue and sleep-deprivation. He has been, and still is, competing in Adventure Racing and other long-endurance races across the globe, and has first-hand experience of many outdoor injuries.
Chris is also our European Liaison.
RACGP Registrar
Australasian Wilderness & Expedition Medicine Society Vice President
Athletics Victoria Board
AusCycling Medical Advisory Committee
Sophie holds an Emergency Medicine Certificate (ACEM), additional qualifications in Advanced Life Support 2, Management of Sports Trauma, Major Incident Medical Management Support, and is working towards her Fellowship of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.
She teaches Advanced Wilderness Life Support, and Wilderness Rescue Medicine courses.
Sophie comes from a diverse background, also holding a B. Arts (International Politics / French Language) and has studied across Australia, UK, the Netherlands, France, and volunteered in the Philippines. Sophie is an avid sportswoman, having represented Australia for cycling and triathlon, and she continues her passion as a keen runner, and sports event doctor.
BSc Zoology
Advanced Diploma Leadership and Management
Advanced Diploma Public Safety (Emergency Management)
Advanced Diploma Public Safety (Firefighting Management)
AWLS
With a military background Aaron also brings field training skillsets including tactical and combat first aid, navigation and communications.
Aaron is an outdoor generalist, and always keen to try any remote outdoor pursuit, including hiking, rafting, scuba diving, boating, biking and 4wd camping.
He is executive editor of Wilderness Medicine Magazine, co-author of Vertical Aid: Essential Wilderness Medicine for Climbers, Trekkers, and Mountaineers, editor of the textbook Wilderness EMS, and founder of multiple wilderness medicine organizations. The first physician designated Master Fellow by both the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and the Adventurers & Explorers Guild, he was also named a Top Ten EMS Innovator of 2011 and 2018 by the Journal of EMS.
Level A CBR/Aquatic Response/Urban Search and Rescue
Team Leader NCCTRC since 2012
Deployed to Samoa as Team Leader Victorian Medical Assistance Team 2009 following Tsunami
Deployed to Fiji 2016 as part of first 6 person deployment following Cyclone Winston
Medic on Kokoda 2010 looking after 40 people on a 7-day trek
Educational experience
Sessional Lecturer since 1997 Ambulance Officers Training Centre and Monash University
2500hrs + Experience in this field
Currently Unit Coordinator Paediatric/Obstetric Unit MICA Program
Unit Coordinator Aeromedical retrieval and Coordination for Grad Cert Aeromedical retrieval Monash University
Facilitator on Victorian AusMAT Courses
MICA Paramedic Educator MICA 5 Ambulance Victoria
AWLS Course April 2016
Medals
Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal (Samoa 2009)
National Emergency Medal (Black Saturday Bushfires 2009)
Interests
Camping/4WD trekking/hiking Alpine and Outback areas
Guitar
Her passion for travel off the beaten path has lead her to work as an expedition medic on the Kokoda Trail and specialise in prepping adventure travellers for trips that they not only survive but actually enjoy!
She has a diploma in tropical and mountain medicine, has done wilderness training from the Arctic to the jungle and has mangled the native tongue of every country that she has visited.
Bethan claims to have no natural talent at any outdoor pursuits, but that is no barrier to her being found hiking, rock climbing, diving and cross-country skiing at every opportunity.
He holds a Bachelors in Health Science, a Diploma in Journalism and numerous outdoor adventure qualifications including rock climbing, abseiling, scuba diving, skydiving and kayaking.
An avid adventurer, climber, surfer and diver, his travels have taken him to over 80 countries so far, with many more adventures planned. Steve has specialised in marine, desert and high altitude (<6000m) expeditions and is currently a Wilderness Medical Consultant / Instructor and a fellow candidate for the Wilderness Medical Society.
His favourite adventure so far has been the micro adventures spent with his wife and two children.
Previously as the Operations Manager of a large overseas expedition company, he was responsible for the safety and training of all participants and leaders prior to their month long expedition. He is a Wilderness Advanced Emergency Medical Technician (WAEMT) and the owner of Survive First Aid which specialises in Wilderness and Remote Area medical training.
When not running wilderness training he also teaches the Certificate IV and Diploma of outdoor leadership. He loves adventure travel, is an avid skier and mountain biker and would really like to be a better surfer!
Dr. Smith also serves as a Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps. LTC Smith has practiced medicine around the world on 6 continents, from the 'Baghdad ER' to Easter Island. His combat experience combined with his pre-hospital EMS experience as a Paramedic, and his technical Search and Rescue skills have led to numerous speaking engagements at Wilderness and EMS conferences/seminars around the world.
Dr. Smith has also been appointed to several national committees (American Heart Association), authored numerous book chapters and consensus guidelines on Wilderness and Rescue Medicine, and serves as a Subject Matter Expert for DARPA.
He has founded and runs Wilderness and Emergency Medicine Consulting (WEMC), LLC. More information can be found at www.wildernessdoc.com
David also works an Emergency Management Specialist for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serving on their incident management team as an operations officer. In this role, he deploys frequently to disaster zones and national security events to coordinate the delivery of patient care through America’s National Disaster Medical System.
David earned his B.A. in Political Science and M.S. in Safety, Security, and Emergency Management from EKU, and is a Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine [5]. He’s an AWLS instructor, rope rescue technician, and a contributing author to “Wilderness EMS.”
While completing her medical degree she realised she did not want to follow a ‘conventional’ career path, and instead wanted to combine her passion for being in the wilderness with her career. She joined the Australasian Wilderness & Expedition Medicine Society (AWEMS) committee in 2021 and that same year became involved with RescueMED after completing her Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS) certification with the company. Molly is also currently completing her Graduate Certificate in Healthcare in Remote and Extreme Environments through the University of Tasmania. She hopes to undertake ACRRM Rural Generalist training and gain further experience working as an expedition and event medic in the near future.
Olivia holds a Graduate Certificate in Paramedicine (Critical Care), Bachelor of Emergency Health (Paramedic), AWLS and BWLS, Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Advanced Life Support, Certificate III in Mine Emergency Response and Rescue, BOSIET with Compressed Air Emergency Breathing System.
When Olivia is not at work you will find her camping, at the beach, or exploring somewhere new.
Her time spent living and working internationally, particularly in Mozambique and Vanuatu, has driven a passion for global development and all things humanitarian, austere and wilderness medicine – which she hopes to gain further experience in. Kelsie also holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and Tropical medicine, is an advanced wilderness life support instructor and maintains a serious coffee addiction to fuel her adventure travel bug.
30 years instructing in the outdoor industry
28 years of volunteering with Maffra SES, (a search and rescue unit)
Volunteer as an Ambulance Community Officer
Wilderness Responder with Ambulance Vic
Member of AlpineSAR
She combines this love with psychology and specialises in high-performance coaching, research and consulting on mental health risk in wilderness activities and austere settings. Kate also provides mental health trauma care to victims of disaster and conflict, both in Australia and internationally.
Kate is the former Head Psychologist at the NRL, and currently works with Fire and Rescue NSW developing and facilitating Wellness Retreats for first responders with PTSD; and well as continuing to build on her work with Psychological First Aid and Mental Health training in remote, austere and wilderness environments.
