Professional medicine off the beaten track
Outback Medicine Sweden provides expedition doctors and medics as well as medical support for both expeditions and other forms of travel. We also offer a wide range of courses and lectures.
Henrik Hedelin MD, PhD, Msc, FAWM, DiMM
Doctor, biologist and instructor in wilderness medicine.
I have had the pleasure of working with wilderness medicine and teaching for more than fifteen years while simultaneously maintaining my day to day work as a orthopedic surgeon. Over the years I have had the opportunity to experience a wide variety of climates and environments and I have a network of friends and colleagues across the globe.
Courses
Our courses are adapted to the background of the course participants and can be held in several locations in Scandinavia . Among doctors, the course is appreciated by both senior and junior doctors. For lay people, courses have, to mention a few, been adapted to climbers, arborists and expedition members.
Other services
Wilderness medicine
Away from the safe structures of modern society, different methods and ways of thinking are required to deal with illness and injury. During expeditions, adventure sports or ordinary outdoor life, we are often far from qualified high-tech healthcare.
Mountain medicine
Evacuation in hard-to-reach environments
For alpinists and climbers, an injury often means a long and difficult evacuation. Knowledge of rope handling and cooperation with alpine rescue services is as important as medical skills.
Dangerous fauna
Animal bites and stings
Most people who travel in countries with more exotic wildlife are most afraid of snakes or sharks. The greatest danger, however, comes from the insect kingdom with mosquito-borne diseases and preventive measures is the key.
In large parts of the world, snakebites are by all accounts a reality, as are scorpions, spiders and various types of wasps or bees. Knowing how to treat a possible bite or sting can make a big difference.
High altitude medicine
The body's reaction to thin air
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is common at most higher altitudes. More serious conditions like pulmonary edema (HAPE) and cerebral edema (HACE) can occur as early as 3000m MSL Recognizing the symptoms and initiating treatment can be life-saving. High altitude medicine provides knowledge on how we prevent these conditions and what medical treatments are available.
Expedition
Medical officer on expeditions
The challenges for doctors on expeditions are many. How should you plan a potential medevac and what should you bring in your kit? You may be faced with everything; infections, fractures, strokes or psychiatric conditions.
Hypothermia
The body's reaction to cold
In large parts of the world, hypothermia is one of the biggest and most important challenges in caring for an injured person outdoors. Both prevention and treatment require training and knowledge.
The unusual
Outside the comfort zone
In wilderness medicine, you may have to work with injuries and diagnoses you are not used to. Managing and prioritizing these conditions, on your own, until evacuation can save an expedition or a life. To give a few examples, lightning strikes are not as uncommon as you might think and rabies is widespread in some parts of the world.