Wild Medic

A hairy doctor practicing medicine in the extremes

[wildmedic]

IV giving set 20 drops

IV giving set 20 drops

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Medical relief in Nepal by Michael Schupp

Medical relief in Nepal by Michael Schupp

I had already been planning for months to travel to Nepal with Cardiostart International to set up a cardiac surgical program at Dhulikhel hospital before the magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit Nepal in late April. The hospital is an hour drive East of the capital Kathmanda and as a consultant Anaesthetist I had key involvement in the program and myself and my team were set to spend 2 weeks from early…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Flat Packed Medic

With the demise of the doo’s and the inability to drop off the French birdwatchers kit, we also are expecting the arrival of the film crew. This is a small production team who want to shoot a short Ikea advert about life as an expedition doctor. The concept is that the expedition doctor spends time away from home and sleeps in uncomfortable places. Then they want to compare it to the doctors…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Where the metal meets the meat

Where the metal meets the meat

Over the past few days we have had problems with the life and blood of this operation. The skidoos. If I were to invent something to work in this unforgiving and harsh environment I would make it as simple as possible, with minimum moving parts, and easy to fix if it breaks. For this reason, the skidoo seem to me to be a fairly unreliable machine as they are complicated and a nightmare to fix.…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

When things go wrong on expeditions - Polar

When things go wrong on expeditions – Polar

Expedition Medicine is a funny thing. It tends to be all or nothing. People are very reliant on you as a doctor for not only clinical support but also pastoral care and safe decision making. Which is one reason I love it.  Unfortunately the actual clinical medicine may take up very little of your time, depending on what you are doing of course.  I would say its under 5% medicine here currently.…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Polar Bears, Scouts and Top Gear

Polar Bears, Scouts and Top Gear

Most of the trips I have done here in Arctic Greenland have been fairly far afield. The one today closer to camp, but equally as beautiful. When I was in the 19th Wimbledon Scouts Groupwe went on a field trip to somewhere in France. It was flat. We spent a lot of time playing in a river and then were forced to some opera at a Chateau.  We never did anything like go to climb remote unclimbed peaks…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Skidoo glacier cargo train

Skidoo glacier cargo train

There is lots of snow here. Around 5 metres at camp, but it is disappearing in the spring sun.  Having driven up the  fjord a few times now, I have noticed that the South facing slopes are increasingly becoming melted and the dark earth is showing through.  We are based at Constable Point which is the most Northerly civilian airport on the East Coast of Greenland (there are military and…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Greenland Avalanche

The events described pale into insignificance with news of the earthquake in Nepal. My thoughts go out to all those caught up or involved and to those trying to piece back together their lives.  In Greenland, dinner was in the weatherhaven as per normal. It is a huge tent that is mainly buried by snow, making it more stable in a storm, and acts as the main base for the team.

In the dead of night.…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

First Skidoo and the French

First Skidoo and the French

I finally had some refamiliarisation with a skidoo. It has been some time, the last time being down in Antarctica. Greenland is the second biggest ice shelf on the planet and very undeveloped in places so using skidoos as transport is one of the best and most economical ways to travel. The base I am stationed at is at Constable Point (Neerlerit Inaat)  which was built by a mining company in the…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Your flight has been changed sir

Your flight has been changed sir

Our flight to Constable Point from Akureyri in Northern Iceland was moved forwards an hour. Baggage was fairly painless and I was charged only for my set of skis which happened to weigh 20kg. I wonder why! We got out onto the tarmac and it was nice to be reunited with the Twin Otter. What a great little twin prop aircraft. Our taxi from the airport was delayed as two Jet Fighters took off. Very…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Waiting to leave for the Ice

Waiting to leave for the Ice

Last time I was sitting in this exact spot in Reykjavik domestic airport was 10 years ago. I was a final year medical student and en-route to a training expedition to Greenland before heading to Antarctica with my good friend Toby. I remember it well. We had spent the previous night in an Icelandic hostel with a loud snorer and so both had very little sleep. The previous evening we had gone…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Marine and Diving Expedition Medicine Course

Marine and Diving Expedition Medicine Course

Having just returned from an interesting week in Belize, more to follow on why it was so interesting, I thought I would share the video that we produced about the week. Big thanks to Expedition Medicine and Blue Ventures along with all the candidates and faculty who made this week so awesome!

    The Marine and Diving Expedition Medicine course was run for a week in…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Saving Mothers Lives in Sierra Leone

Saving Mothers Lives in Sierra Leone

Having never visited Western Africa, Sierra Leone conjured up images of war and civil unrest. The flight did nothing to change my view when it became clear that the British Airways crew were not stopping over as the company policy is that Sierra Leone is too dangerous. As the plane started to make its descent and I tucked away the laptop that I had been furiously…

View On WordPress

[wildmedic]

Halley VI, a mobile Antarctic research centre, designed by Hugh Broughton Architects. Photo by James Morris.

[wildmedic]

South Downs (Taken with Instagram)

[wildmedic]

Taken with Instagram

[wildmedic]

The Brighton Wheel (Taken with Instagram)