Report on the MREW Medical Seminar

Last Saturday 14th November, nine members of the team travelled to the lake district for the Mountain Rescue (England & Wales) (MREW) Medical Seminar in Ambleside, administered by Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team.

The course was entirely sponsored by a bequest given to Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team by Mr John Murdock and was held in the Low Wood Hotel in Ambleside.

The Seminar was opened with introduction and welcome by Dr Les Gordon (Medical Officer LAMRT), this was followed by a set programme of speakers on the following subjects:-

• Head Injuries (Dr Tim Hooper, Medical Officer, Keswick MRT and Doctor, Great North Air Ambulance.
• Management of Spinal Injury (Mr Mike Greene, Medical Officer, Wasdale MRT, Medical Officer MREW).
• Management of fractures and dislocations (Mr Dave Knowles, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal Lancaster Infirmary).
• Primary Survey (Dr Les Gordon, Medical Officer, Langdale Ambleside MRT)
• Use of Oxygen in Mountain Rescue (Dr Steve Rowe, Medical Officer, Edale MRT)
• Recent Developments in Prehospital Care relevant to Mountain Rescue (Dr Karen Green, Medical Officer, Wasdale MRT)
• Observations and tips for MR teams working with Helimed (Mr Andy Dalton, Paramedic, Great North Air Ambulance)
• Medial problems during race endurance events (Dr Paul Simpson, Race Doctor)
• Heat Stress & Heat Illness (Prof George Havenith, Director Environmental Ergonomics Research Centre, Loughborough University)
• Management of severe Hypothermia (Dr Peter Paal, Dept Anaesthesiology & Critical Care, Innsbruck, Austria and ICAR MEDCOM)
• CPR in Mountain Rescue (Dr John Ellerton, Medical Officer, Patterdale MRT and President, ICAR-MEDCOM).
• Coping after a distressing experience. The Blue Light Programme (Miss Joanna Moss, MIND)
• Trauma Risk Management, TRiM (Mr Steve Johnson, Duddon & Furness MRT)
• Update on the Casualty Care course and examination (Mr Mike Greene, Medical Officer, MREW)

There were breaks throughout the day were the teams were treated to lunch and a number of trade shows which showed off some of the up and coming ideas and products related to casualty care.

The team really enjoyed the day which sparked off a number of conversations within the group and potential ideas to be taken back and implemented within the our team.

Bolton Mountain Rescue would like to express our thanks to the organisers of such a great event and to Langdale Ambleside MRT for their warm welcome and spending time allowing the team to visit their base for a tour and Pie & Pea Supper.