An Extreme Pre-Hospital Career

In this session, Eoin Walker interviews Chris Gibson as he talks us through is extreme pre-hospital medicine career. Chris has one of the most diverse and varied careers in paramedicine that WEM has had the pleasure of coming across. In this session, the learning outcomes:

• Provide a road-map for a varied and exciting career within extreme pre-hospital medicine.
• Examine commonalities and differences between some of the domains of practice to reveal co-aligned principles and those of disparity.
• To showcase the mindset necessary to foster and engineer this road-map.
• Examine some of the rate-limiting steps and lessons learnt to raise awareness for other pre-hospital clinicians of these factors.

Bio:

Chris Gibson is a critical care flight paramedic and Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness. A former British Soldier with operational experience in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Chris is an NAEMT Affiliate Faculty member for the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) Programmes.

Chris is a mountain leader, arctic survival trained, and has summited Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina (6,962 m/22,840 ft) and worked as an expedition medic in the Atacama Desert and on Mount Ojos del Salado (6,893 m/22,615 ft) in Chile.   As a passionate wilderness instructor, he has taught Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS), Wilderness First Aid and WEMT courses in the Rainforests and mountains of Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Nicaragua and Honduras.

A certified Oil and Gas Offshore medic, Chris has provided primary care, emergency care and prolonged field care for rig staff, soldiers and refugees alike across Iraq and Kurdistan.
He has supported humanitarian operations in the Balkans and Kurdistan, a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) in West Africa and USAR disaster response teams following natural disasters in Guatemala.

Chris is a frequent presenter at EMS conferences and continues his paramedic practice in austere environments, most recently in Afghanistan.

Chris continues to work in HEMS, provide wilderness and disaster medical education and coordinates medical missions for underserved tropical communities. He recently authored a book and course entitled, ‘Rescue, Expedition and Disaster Medicine’ and has his sights set on a trip to Denali.