I’ve had a number of people approach me about how to get in to wilderness/remote medicine as a career. I’ll cover some general thoughts and general routes in this post and the route that I took in a later one.
Finding Remote Medicine Jobs
Here are some resources to help find specific positions you may want to apply to. Unless specifically indicated I’m not vouching for any of these websites or companies.
Continue reading “Finding Remote Medicine Jobs”Remote and Austere Medicine Pay Rates
This is a follow up to my post about beginning a career in the remote/austere medicine world.
Power and Electronics when Traveling
I use a number of electronics for work and comfort when traveling. Over time I’ve made an effort to streamline what I carry. Not only does this reduce what I physically carry it also reduces my cognitive load when packing and removes single points of failure.
By very strictly sticking with common plug types and avoiding proprietary ones I have no issue buying replacement cables on the road in a pinch. All but one of my products charge using either USB-C, MicroUSB, or Lightning. All three of those cable types have been available, at varying quality levels, everywhere from rural British Columbia, Eastern Ukraine, Tanzania, Iraq, and Guyana. The one product I carry with a proprietary connection is not an essential item.
Goal:
Charge everything with as few cables as possible.
Plug directly in to the device to charge without a proprietary dock/stand (added stuff to carry).
Use rechargeable batteries rather than disposable.
CRO Medical Hybrid IFAK Review and Work Loadout
Disclosure:
The guys at CRO gave me this unit, but did so without any expectations. I’ve been following them for a couple years from the early days when they made a few really great digital references. Since then I’ve stayed in regular contact as we work in some overlapping circles and I made an effort to include their references and physical goods in specialized classes I taught as they fit with the student body. When I accepted a new high threat contract I reached out to CRO to buy this IFAK as it was listed out of stock at the time and I had short notice to deploy. They hooked me up so that I could use the product, not to review or promote it. I have purchased their pelvic binder, three digital products, two tourniquet covers, and a t-shirt at full price.
While I do have a friendly relationship with Jeff at CRO, I have no financial connection to them and do not financially benefit from this review. Frankly, knowing some of the other people that are using this product, I’m small beans both in terms of spending budget and influence.
Continue reading “CRO Medical Hybrid IFAK Review and Work Loadout”
Butterfly iQ Ultrasound
This post should serve as a really brief, initial impressions review of a new bit of tech I’ve added to my kit.
Medical Kit for a High Risk Photojournalist
A friend of mine is a photojournalist that has had his conflict zone work featured in The New York Times, Al Jazeera, and The Guardian to name only a few outlets. It is essential for his work that he go to some of the most dangerous places on the earth to help show what is happening there. He has spent months embedded with NGOs on the Mediterranean rescuing refugees and in Iraq near the front lines against ISIS where I met him.
One of our first interactions in Mosul was me asking him where his tourniquet was. He said that he didn’t have one. He had armor, camera equipment, doc Martens, and twice the heart of most people but didn’t have trauma supplies. I gave him the tourniquet in a pouch from my belt and told him to keep it on his person as long as he was in Mosul. A few days later I gave him a refresher course on how to use a CAT G7.
A few months later we reconnected and I offered to put together a med kit for him. We talked about his risk profile, training, carrying capacity, methods of travel, and access to healthcare when on location.
Based on that information I put together the setup shown and described below. By a happy turn of fate we ended up being in Washington DC together at the same time allowing me to hand deliver it and enjoy our first meal together outside of a war zone.
The concept of the kit was this, if he was wearing his body armor somewhere the threat was assumed to be high thus requiring additional trauma supplies but if he wasn’t going to be wearing armor or traveling with armor his overall kit shouldn’t suffer. I gave him a trauma kit to be mounted on his armor and a general purpose kit to go in his day pack.
Continue reading “Medical Kit for a High Risk Photojournalist”
Disclaimer
The posts on this site are my content. They reflect my experience, knowledge, opinions, biases, and while I make a concerted effort to ensure content is accurate please do your own homework and take nothing, here or elsewhere, as gospel. I will cite sources when possible. If you find an inaccuracy please feel free to contact me.