Dr. Andrew McLaren, a critical care and internal medicine doctor at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital is currently in Mali, serving in the Canadian Forces in Operation Presence. Operation Presence is the Canadian component of a United Nations peace support mission in West Africa. Dr. McLaren is a physician specialist on CMERT – the Canadian Medical Emergency Response Team. The team (A trauma doctor, critical care nurse, and two medics) brings a resuscitation room to the patient at the point of injury to start advanced decision making and resuscitation earlier. Modelled after British combat helicopter emergency teams, the CMERT utilizes the Chinook and two Griffon helicopters to access injured peacekeepers and civilians in a challenging, and at times dangerous, environment. For more information on Dr. McLaren’s CMERT work, check out his Twitter account @Heli_doc and watch the video of CMERT in action.
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