PA Wild Med.com
Warning: This is an archived page from 2015. We left this info for reference purposes.
Marko Yurachek, Adventure Guide
Marko spends his summers in Alaska as an Adventure Guide. Either a bear ate his cell phone on one of his Grizzly Safaris, or he has spent the past several weeks without cell phone reception (which is a wonderful thing). As the course director, I will write his bio. I'm sure Marko would be able to add tons of other super cool facts about his adventures. We cross paths at many regional Wild Med conferences where Marko teaches primitive skills. His skills are numerous but include climbing, SAR, any outdoor or primitive skill, navigation and leading Adventure Expeditions. His best trait is his personality. Friendly, personable, humble and a great story teller, I highly suggest you spend some quality campfire time with Marko. He has also been the personal primitive skills trainer for one of the "Naked & Afraid" contestants (who kicked butt on her episode by the way). (Photo: Marko is known for picking up some road kill on the way to a party or event as his contribution to the Dinner)
Walt Schrading, MD, FACEP, FAWM Candidate
Walt is an aeromedical trained emergency physician, with over 100 flights during residency. He is a 25-year and founding member of the faculty of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at York Hospital. He has recently relocated to the University of Alabama, Birmingham where he is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine. Here he will continue his long-term interest in wilderness medicine and will be starting a Wilderness Medicine section at UAB. He was a white-water raft guide on the Youghiogheny River in southwestern PA for 7 years and is an expert in white-water rescue and safety.
He is an athlete and outdoor adventurer. He is an 8-time finisher of the Ironman triathlon - a 140.6-mile single day journey including a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike, and a 26.2-mile marathon run. He hopes to compete in Kona, Hawaii at the world championship one day by his continued participation in this ultimate endurance event. Endurance adventure races including map navigation, mountain biking, canoeing or kayaking, and trail running are also part of his outdoor diet. He continues to compete in other triathlon, running, and adventure races; many of which he participates with his brothers or his wife. He now is enjoying the heat training in the south! (Photo: Climbing Mt. Battie in Camden, ME)
Nicole Battaglioli, MD, FAWM Candidate
Nicole is a Chief Resident at York Hospital's Emergency Medicine Program and a FAWM candidate. She spent her childhood surviving the frozen tundra of Wisconsin winters.
This is most likely why she prefers warm weather hobbies such as scuba diving, hiking and cycling. Nicole also enjoys throwing her tomahawk, smashing cars and eating cupcakes. (Photo: Baring her teeth for the SnowShark during “Snowfest” in Frankenmuth, Michigan)
(Conference Director’s comment: I can verify that Nicole has a tomahawk and thoroughly enjoys smashing cars, but I have yet to see her eat a cupcake)
Disaster Response Team
The York Hospital Disaster Response Team (DRT) consists of 35 team members with a wide range of backgrounds in either health care or emergency services. Not all members have medical backgrounds. Non-clinical members provide technical expertise in disaster response. Clinical team members have various medical specialties.
Response capabilities of the team include patient/victim decontamination, medical surge support and rehab operations. In addition to supporting the hospital, the DRT can be activated for incidents in the community such as fires, search and rescue, etc.
(Photo: A recent DRT exercise at the York County Fire School with the new Emergency Medicine Interns)
Saulius Elertas EMT-P, FP-C, FAWM Candidate
Saul is a flight paramedic with the Penn State Life Lion Critical Care Transport program. He is also a Medical Specialist with Pennsylvania US&R Task Force 1, and is certified in numerous technical rescue disciplines.
As a member of the Wilderness Medical Society, he is working towards achieving a Fellowship in Wilderness Medicine, and enjoys both studying and teaching about wilderness medicine. Outdoor interests include hiking, camping, mountain biking and kayaking.
(Photo: Saulius is sporting some pretty good gear in this photo).
Larry Goldhahn, MD, FAAEM, FACEP, FAWM
Larry is an alumnus of York Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Residency and a full-time attending at Gettysburg Hospital (also part-time at York Hospital). He loves getting into the outdoors whenever possible. He especially enjoys horseback riding, mountain biking, camping, fishing and even hunting from time to time. He also enjoys water related activities and, since serving in the Navy, believes the most beautiful location on the planet is where you can’t see land for 360 degrees. He’s a member of the Wilderness Medical Society and recently completed his Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. (Photo: The Tetons, on horseback...something to be experienced)
Cathleen Stauffer, RN
My first taste of adventure was at the young age of 18 when I flew to Canada by myself, boarded an aircraft (which afforded a better view of the Canadian countryside through the holes in the floor than through the windows) and visited an Indian reservation. Upon graduating from nursing school, I traveled to the remote areas of Honduras with a medical/dental team and fell in love with the country. In 1999, I founded Casa Corazon, a ministry that brings children to the USA for donated complex surgery that cannot be performed safely in Honduras. When medically safe, these children are returned to their parents. Casa Corazon has sponsored over 100 children. Casa also takes medical, surgical and construction teams to Honduras several times a year. I have traveled to Honduras more times than I can recall and have been accused of being 50% Honduran. While each journey is an adventure, we have only lost one nurse in the mountains of Honduras.... (yes, we found her and she actually came back again for another trip!) Thanks to Eric Bowman being in charge of packing our medical team emergency kit, we successfully splinted a dentist's broken ankle. He bravely finished the trip and had ankle surgery to repair the fracture several days after returning to the USA. I am the mother of 3 children (2 of which are native Hondurans) and am employed as an RN in WellSpan York Hospital's Emergency Department. (Photo: one of my numerous mission trips to Honduras)
Lucas Boucher, BS Mechanical Engineering
Lucas is a mechanical engineer with an affinity for complex systems such as Autonomous Vehicles, Biometric/Information System Exploitation, Industrial Robotics, 3D printing and Extreme Exterior Illumination. www.pachristmas.com. When not spending time with his family, working or building his next project in the garage, he likes to read up on the most complex system mankind has made, namely our technology dependent, economically driven society and its impacts on culture/humanity. Needless to say, he thinks there are some non-zero percentage chance events we should all at least consider. Wild Med helps remind him it’s important to go on wild adventures with his family. (Photo is Lucas outside contemplating his next Extreme Christmas decoration theme, complete with musically timed elements)
Bill Gibbons, DO, FAWM Candidate
He is the founder and president of the GOALS Adventure Racing Association. For the last 10 years, along with his wife, Anne, and a core of dedicated volunteers, GOALS-ARA has conducted 6-hour, 12-hour, and 24-hour adventure races that have gained recognition as some of the best organized and physically demanding competitions in the country.
In 2012, Team GOALS-ARA was ranked #2 in the country with the US Adventure Racing Association. Over the last decade, Bill has organized and directed over 100 events. With a background as a search and rescue instructor, Bill is proficient in all aspects of wilderness training. Bill has been involved in search and rescue operations across the country. GOALS-ARA teaches clinics throughout the year on the various technical skills involved in adventure racing, wilderness survival, search, rope rescue, and leadership.
As a racer, Bill has numerous podium finishes, as well as some great stories about the races that didn’t turn out so well. Bill is also completing his training at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) as a physician. He intends to go into Emergency Medicine upon graduation. (Photo: Bill, on right, on a Search for a downed Paraglider).
Veronica Coppersmith, DO, FAWM
Veronica is an Emergency Medicine Resident at St. Luke's University Hospital in Bethlehem PA. She loves anything and everything involving the outdoors, but her favorites are skiing, snowboarding, rock climbing, ice climbing, running, and backpacking.
Her love for the outdoors was deep seeded when she was a kid, and she was thrilled when she realized in medical school that the field of Wilderness Medicine was a combination of her three favorite things - Emergency Medicine, the great outdoors, and playing MacGyver.
She received her Fellowship in Wilderness Medicine in 2014 and hopes in the future to work as an expedition doctor, keeping people safe on awesome adventures.
(Photo: Clinging to Crags always makes for an awesome photo)
Marc Cassone, FAWM Candidate
Marc is a fourth year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, a trained W-EMT, and FAWM Candidate. He's worked as an outdoor guide leading hiking and biking trips in the US, Europe and Africa. His favorite outdoor activities include hiking, bike-touring, skiing, and eating all the M&Ms out of other people's trailmix. He is currently the Student Representative for the Wilderness Medical Society and would love to hear from any med students at the conference on new ideas and feedback for the WMS. He will be lecturing on "OMT in the Backcountry". (Photo is a “head-shot” while leading an overnight trip in the Catskills)
Eric Barr, DO, FAWM Candidate
Eric is the Program Director of the Family Medicine Residency at Memorial Hospital in York and in private family practice in York as well. He is also licensed by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission as a ring-side physician for boxing and MMA.
He teaches and utilizes Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine daily in his practice and when teaching residents and medical students.
He has been a hunter, fisherman and outdoor person all of his life and now enjoys spending any time he can doing nearly anything outside with his family and friends.
He is a candidate for the Wilderness Medicine Fellowship and looks forward to many more conferences and experiences like this. (Photos: Top: Taking a break on Kilimanjaro with his wife, Heather Bottom: A little OMM on Kilimanjaro)
Daniel Kaminstein MD, DTM&H, FACEP
Dan is Director of Global Health and an Emergency Medicine Doc at York Hospital. He is dual fellowship trained in international medicine and ultrasound. He has taught throughout South America, Asia and Africa. His primary interest lie in the application of clinician performed ultrasound in the evaluation of tropical infectious diseases. (Photo: performing outdoor ultrasound in India)
Western Maryland K-9 SAR Team
“So Others May Live…”
www.westmdk9sar.org
K-9 SAR provides Air Scent Dog Teams to assist with lost person searches in wilderness and urban interface environments. We follow criteria equivalent to FEMA Type II Wilderness Air Scent Team capabilities. The team can be self-sustaining for 48 hours in all weather conditions and low angle wilderness terrain or larger areas of 120 acres or more. Our K-9 search team can provide shoreline search assistance for lost persons involved in swift water incidents. We can also provide assistance with searching in a disaster environment, such as the outlying areas of a tornado zone. (Photo is the K-9 team pictured with their human partners and the super cool MSP chopper)
Matt Stephens, MD, FAWM Candidate
Matt is currently the director of the Medical Student Clerkship at York Hospital. In addition, he's always had an interest in the outdoors. From spending time in the Boy Scouts, volunteering with ski patrol and assisting with past Wild Med conferences, there are few things he enjoys more than being outside. He recently returned from a two-week trip to Tanzania - immersing himself in travel medicine and helping to educate others in bedside ultrasound. He plans to finish his FAWM in the coming year. His favorite outdoor activities are backpacking, camping, sailing, skiing and shooting. (Photo: Summit of Granite Mountain in Washington State. Mount Rainier is in the background)
Rich Lippy, Mechanical Engineer (Retired)
Rich has been an avid skier since 1960, and believes that skiing gets better when the weather gets tougher and the conditions get more challenging. He has been working with Liberty Ski Patrol for the past 18 years. He works as a Facilitator at Liberty and Capital Camps Ropes & Zip Line Courses. He has been into Rock & Ice Climbing for the past 7 years. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro for his 75th birthday, Mt. Hood for his 76th birthday and Seneca Rocks for his 78th birthday. In the summers, he enjoys taking his friends out on his sailboat. Rich has assisted with the construction of the famous Pig Roaster and much of the Zip Line and Low Ropes Courses you will be enjoying during the Wild Med Conference.
(Photo: Ice Climbing near Smuggler's Notch, VT at age 81)
Carl Solomon, Search Manager, WFR, Lost Person Behavior Instructor
Carl is President of Maryland Search and Rescue (MSAR), a Howard County based wilderness SAR team. Carl is a Search Manager with the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference, a certified Lost Person Behavior Instructor, and a WFR (Wilderness First Responder). He is known for creating exciting, fun and highly educational SAR exercises.
He enjoys mountaineering. He has climbing trips to the Harding Ice Field in Alaska, Mexico and Denali all planned for the next year with his son. (Photos: Top: Here is Carl rigging a technical rescue. No, this is not in the jungle! Bottom: Carl is waking up to a beautiful winter morning on Mt. Rainier)
Jenna Jarriel, EMT, OEC
Jenna is a fourth year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College (aka Jefferson) in Philadelphia, PA with plans to go into Emergency Medicine and pursue the Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine.
She has been a member of the National Ski Patrol (NSP) since she was 16, which has greatly fostered her love of both medicine and the outdoors. She is a NSP Trainer Evaluator, teaching at clinics at mountains including Copper (CO), Windham (NY), and Killington (VT) to help patrollers excel. Other experiences include: providing prehospital care as an emergency medical technician, serving as trip leader for the outdoor education program at the Key School, and thru-hiking the Long Trail in Vermont.
She enjoys anything involving mountains, water and/or snow, but cruising through double black glades on a snowboard is her favorite. (Photo: Killington, VT, making end of season turns in some fabulous Spring Riding Weather)
Tara Assi, PA-C, FAWM Candidate
Assi is a physician assistant at Gettysburg Surgical Associates. She is presently working on her FAWM. She is the proud mother of twins, who you will likely see running around at the conference. Her interests include hiking, camping, traveling and just spending time outdoors. (Photo: Strolling around "Garden of the Gods" in Colorado)
Bryan Wexler, MD, MPH, FAAEM
Bryan is the Director of the Division of Disaster Medicine and Emergency Management at WellSpan, York Hospital.
He attended Amherst College prior to training at Tufts University School of Medicine, subsequently completing his residency at WellSpan York Hospital in Emergency Medicine where he served as a chief resident. He completed his fellowship in Disaster Medicine and Emergency Management in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, MA, in addition to a Masters in Public Health.
He has served on several disaster preparedness committees, been involved in multi-system training exercises at the regional level and has lectured before military medic units. He is the Director of the WellSpan Disaster Medicine and Emergency Management Training Center at York Hospital. He also currently serves as the chairman of the York-Adams Metropolitan Medical Response System, the regional interoperative disaster preparedness committee for the York-Adams counties and is an active member of the South Central Task Force.
Interests in addition to disaster medicine include system development and resource management. He is an avid tennis player as well as a practitioner of martial arts and historical fencing. (Photo is a hike to Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica)
Bob Stuntz, MD, RDMS, FAAEM, FACEP
Bob is an emergency physician and the Program Director for WellSpan York Hospital’s Emergency Medicine Residency Program. A graduate of the residency program, Bob spoke at the 2009 Wilderness Medicine and Survival Skills program, and is excited to return for this year’s conference.
Outdoor interests include backpacking, hiking, camping, fishing, skiing, and shooting. He is also a firm believer in doing everything you can to be ready for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. (Photo: Bonefishing in the flats off of Eluthera in the Bahamas. In reality, this "Big Catch" is only 18 inches, but I tell people it was 26)
DOUGLAS SWARD, MD, FAAEM, FAWM
Doug is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. He is currently an Emergency Physician at the University of Maryland - Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air, Maryland. He also practices Hyperbaric and Dive Medicine at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center - Department of Hyperbaric Medicine. He is a DMAC Medical Examiner of Divers and the Faculty Advisor for the Wilderness Medicine Student Interest Group at University of Maryland School of Medicine. Since 2010, he has been the Medical Advisor for Maryland Search and Rescue, which is a team within the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference. In 2010, he also completed the Wilderness Medical Society Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine program.
Wilderness medicine interests include dive medicine, altitude medicine, frostbite, hypothermia, hyperthermia, ultrasound and all manner of improvised wilderness care. Personal interests include rock and ice climbing, skiing, diving, mountain biking, kayaking, triathlons and any opportunity to get off the grid. He also has prior experience as a paramedic and firefighter at the Wheaton Volunteer Rescue Squad. He will be leading a pre-conference SAREX (Search & Rescue Exercise) at the 9th annual Wilderness Medicine and Survival Skills Seminar. (Photo - nothing beats being a “Powder Hound” skiing out West)
John Rollhauser, EMT-B, OEC
John is a professional ski patroller at Sugarloaf Mountain Resort in Maine, the former Pro Patrol Director at Liberty Mountain Resort in Pa. and founder of Adventure Med Rescue. Adventure Med Rescue provides medical and rescue support to adventure races and other races in non-urban environments where access to standard emergency medical care is not readily available.
John is also a member of Franklin County Search and Rescue (FSAR) in Franklin County, ME. He is also an active volunteer fire fighter, EMT and rescue technician.
He is also an instructor for outdoor emergency care, lift evacuation, off-trail & rope rescue and climbing. He enjoys pursuits that take him into the outdoors. He is an avid rock climber, hiker, backpacker, mountaineer, mountain biker, kayaker, skier and caver. He believes one of the best sounds in the world is rain on his tent at night.
(Photos: Top: Standing on the summit cairns of Burn Mountain in Maine, another day at work. Burn Mountain is the centerpiece of the side country of Sugarloaf Ski Resort. Bottom: Summiting Mt. Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail after his thru hike in 2001).
Matt Lippy, EMT, OEC
Matt enjoys making a living outside. In the summer he is a U.S. Park Ranger for Voyageurs National Park. In the winter he works as a professional ski patroller at resorts including Stowe Mountain Resort in VT and Liberty Mountain Resort in PA.
Matt’s training includes search and rescue, technical rescue and tactical woodland tracking. In the past Matt has worked for Shenandoah National Park as a Biological Technician where he also was a member of their search & rescue and technical rescue teams. His outdoor interests include skiing, rock climbing, hiking, backpacking, fishing and sailing. (Photo: “Tending a Litter, Cliff-side” or “Matt just Hanging Around… again”)
Scott Kuipers, Survival Expert
He is an Internationally renowned wilderness survival expert, tracker and guide. His clients include State and Federal land use agencies, the wilderness medicine community, schools, military, law enforcement, International NGOs and the Entertainment Industry. Scott has a diverse background, having run mountaineering expeditions along the length of the Rockies, sea-kayaking expeditions in Alaska and Baja and stone tool survival classes throughout the World. His current project is documenting Jaguars in the northern extent of their natural range along the sometimes-dangerous border between the U.S. and Mexico. (Photo: in Yellowstone National Park again- 25 years after “the Burn”)
Eric Bowman, MD, FACEP, FAWM, Course Organizer
He is the Director of the Wilderness Medicine Section within the Department of Emergency Medicine at WellSpan York Hospital's Emergency Medicine Residency, York, Pa. Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine; Wilderness Medical Society member; certified in Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS), Wilderness Advanced Life Support (WALS) and Outdoor Emergency Care; active member of the National Ski Patrol.
Outdoor interests include downhill skiing, camping, backpacking, white water rafting, cross country skiing, snowshoeing and survival skills. SCUBA certifications (PADI) include Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Rescue Diver, Peak Performance Buoyancy, Enriched Air (Nitrox) Diver, Equipment Specialist, Underwater Naturalist, Underwater Navigator and Master SCUBA Diver.
(Photo is of Machu Picchu after hiking the classic Inca Trail. Also in the photo is his wife, Katherine (“Kat”), the tireless behind-the-scenes champion of the Wilderness Medicine Conference)
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