World Extreme Medicine Comes to Edinburgh

We’re looking forward to welcoming incredible individuals from across the globe to our event

From Friday 18 to Monday 21 November the World Extreme Medicine Conference and Expo will welcome over 100 world-renowned experts who specialise in medical practice conducted away from the comfort of a typical hospital setting. The four-day conference will be taking place at Dynamic Earth, Holyrood Gait, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS.

The pioneering conference will cover four core disciplines: disaster and humanitarian medicine, extreme, expedition and wilderness medicine, human endurance and sports medicine plus prehospital medicine. Each day will see specialists in these areas explore the latest medical developments and share their learnings.

Peter Skelton, a London-based Physiotherapist and Rehabilitation Project Manager with Handicap International, will be speaking on Friday 18 November. Handicap International is an aid organisation working alongside disabled and vulnerable people in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster.

Humanitarian doctor Saleyha Ahsan will also be talking on the first day of the conference. Born in Essex, she was the first British Muslim woman to gain a place at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst on the Officer Commissioning Course. She became a British Army officer, served in Bosnia as a Medical Support Officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and then decided to retrain as a doctor.

On Saturday 19 November surgeon Dr Beat Walpoth, Director of Cardiovascular Research at the University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland, will be speaking. Dr Walpoth is a leading surgeon and expert on rewarming victims of hypothermia using extracorporeal life support (ECLS).

Edinburgh-based elite sports expert Dr Andrew Murray, who has worked for the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games, will be speaking on Sunday 20 November. He ran 4,300 km from Scotland to the Sahara Desert and has completed a husky trek in -40C in Outer Mongolia.

The World Extreme Medicine Conference has also captured the attention of those in outer space. Kate Rubins, one of three astronauts aboard the International Space Station, has transmitted a message of support to the organisers of the event to reinforce the importance of extreme medicine.

Kate said, “Here in Earth orbit we have a unique appreciation of the concepts of ‘extreme’ and ‘remote’, very applicable to the World Extreme Medicine Conference, especially provisioning and point-of-care diagnostics in similar remote environments as well as on a wider global scale.

“The concept of extreme medicine resonates with so many corners of human health, such as disaster and humanitarian medicine, prehospital care, wilderness medicine, and in isolated villages in the developing world.

“The breaking down of traditional silos between these disciplines is leading to more effective treatments and devices, and of course the sharing of knowledge and best practices on a wider stage.”

Mark Hannaford, founder of World Extreme Medicine, said, “We’re looking forward to welcoming incredible individuals from across the globe to our event. It is now in its fifth year and continues to stimulate new thinking, build professional relationships and share new and more effective approaches to medical practice in challenging environments. New medical research findings will be shared, so the World Extreme Medicine Conference will be making history, following in the footsteps of the scientific giants who are now household names.”

Location: Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS
Dates: Friday November 18 to Monday November 21
Website: http://www.extrememedicineexpo.com/
Videos: Being a Doctor Just Became the Most Exciting Career: https://vimeo.com/170846844
Extreme and Wilderness Medicine – Our Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhPrFGFIFXI
Mark Hannaford LinkedIn: http://lnkd.in/B3CEKN
A message transmitted from the International Space Station by astronaut Kate Rubins to the event organisers here: https://vimeo.com/184097597
A message from astronaut Tim Peake: https://vimeo.com/186260992

Ends

Journalists are welcome to attend the conference and are asked to register their interest. High resolution imagery and interviews are available on request.

Media information provided by Famous Publicity. For more information, please contact Tina Fotherby at 07703 409 622 or tina@famouspublicity.com, Adam Betteridge at 07710 518 545 or adam@famouspublicity.com or George Murdoch at 07525 185 500 or george@famouspublicity.com.

About the World Extreme Medicine Expo:
The World Extreme Medicine Conference and Expo will take place at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, EH8 8AS from 18 – 21 November 2016. Bringing together many of the world’s brightest medical minds, it will focus four core disciplines:

• Disaster and humanitarian medicine
• Extreme, expedition and space medicine
• Human endurance and sports medicine
• Prehospital medicine.
The exposition’s mission is to break down barriers, build bridges and make connections within the extreme medicine community.

The term ‘Extreme Medicine’ was first coined by Mark Hannaford and Sean Hudson as an umbrella term for these extra-clinical medical practices.