Dani Beau, Survivalist, Adventure Guide
Dani grew up in the Pine Barrens of NJ and moved to Iceland in 2016 to obtain her MSc. in Environment and Natural Resource Management at the University of Iceland. She is a Mountain, ATV, and Glacier Kayak guide for Icelandic Mountain Guides; as well as their Environmental Specialist overseeing the carbon neutralization of the company.
In addition, Dani is an Instructor for ICESAR, the Icelandic Search and Rescue team; and a W-EMT with a passion for wilderness medicine and improvised backcountry skills.
Dani has a unique outlook on survival: being the only vegan to complete 2 of the Discovery Channel´s Naked and Afraid challenges: surviving a total of 61 days in the badlands of Colombia. Her favorite wilderness skills include friction fire, cordage & basket weaving, snowhouse and shelter building, primitive bone & antler tools, and wilderness first aid.
Marc Cassone, DO, W-EMT, FAWM, Licensed Outdoor Guide
Marc is an emergency medicine resident at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, PA and Vice Chair of the EMRA Wilderness Medicine Committee. Marc is a native of the Adirondacks and when not back home skiing/hiking in the High Peaks, he loves still guiding outdoor trips between shifts and planning his next big adventure. Beyond wilderness medicine, Marc has distinct interests in global health, critical care, and discovering new whitewater in PA! He has led multi-day trekking and bike-touring trips across the US, Peru, Pyrenees, Alps, Kilimanjaro and Morocco and worked on mission trips in Tanzania, Haiti, the Amazon, and the Navajo Reservation. He will be lecturing on Exercise-Induced Hyponatremia and as the former Student Representative to the WMS, giving a talk on "Getting Involved in WM as a Student."
(Photo: Bootpacking up Tuckerman's Ravine, Mount Washington, NH, home of the world's worst recorded weather. In winter, hurricane winds occur (on average) once every 3 days with winds over 100 mph averaging once per week. Mt. Washington is often used as a training location for those aspiring to summit Mt. Everest. )
Stephanie Reighart, MA
Stephanie prefers the woods to living in a house. That's why she and Richard (below) sold their house in 2014 and have been wandering ever since. Recent adventures include: Hiking the length of the Pacific Crest Trail, working in Antarctica and biking from Seattle to Bar Harbor, Maine.
If she could only participate in one recreation for the rest of her life it would be backpacking. Stephanie likes to talk about gear, thru-hiking, scavenger hunts and winter.
Richard Trierweiler, MD, MPH, FAWM
Richard's outdoor adventures began as soon as he was big enough to reach door locks, grasp sharp and dangerous tools (Read: play toys) from the garage and make a break for the woods. He went on to do the whole Boy Scout/Eagle Scout thing, complete an Ironman, start a triathlon club at Dartmouth, join the Dartmouth Outing Club, mountaineer in Ecuador, join a search and rescue team, etc.
Next came medical school at Ohio State where he started a Wilderness Medicine Interest Group and joined the OSU mountaineering club. He then made time for a short bicycle trip from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida, an MPH at Dartmouth and residency at WellSpan York Hospital.
The last Antarctic summer season he served as the base physician at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Now he's contracted to work in New Zealand. Together they hiked the length of the Pacific Crest Trail, went on a 'round the world tour, biked from Seattle to Bar Harbor, Maine and nearly went over a waterfall. Next up: All the adventures they can find in New Zealand.
(Photo: Richard & Stephanie at McMurdo Station in Antartica)
Course Organizers
Patrick Carroll, MD, FAWM Candidate
Patrick is a west coast native transplanted throughout many states of the union, now a practicing Emergency Medicine Physician throughout the East Coast as a traveling physician. He loves the outdoors and the mountains, having hiked throughout the backcountry of the Sierras and the Rockies throughout his childhood and adult life in all seasons warm and cold. He is passionate about traveling, has spent a year in the tropics of Central America as an exchange student, mission trips throughout the Carribean, and looks forward to more adventures in the wilderness.
(Photo: Hanging out in the Tetons)
Christopher W. Scott, FAWM Candidate
Christopher Scott, CISSP, CHS-III, is an EMT and Search and Rescue (SAR) diver. His broad training and experience as a PADI certified professional Divemaster and an IANTD certified technical diver have yielded over 800 dives, his deepest to 200’. In 2012 he was involved in the rescue of a pilot of a downed plane and later one of the recovery divers doing underwater rigging to lift it to the surface. Christopher enjoys diving and exploring wrecks in the Port Canaveral area. He has been involved in EMS since he was 16 and one of the original members of the first BSA Rescue Explorer post. Christopher is also a certified combat lifesaver and worked many rescues during Desert Shield and Storm. Christopher is also a veteran and former DA Investigator.
In Christopher’s free time he is a locally respected Chef, enjoys the beach, shooting his various guns, and attending church. This year for fun, he went through EMT training and has joined Cape Canaveral Volunteer Fire Department. He is member of VFW Post 10148 and the Cocoa Beach Elks Club.
(Photo: Dressed for winter in Florida)
Martha Barrett, MD, MPH,FACEP, FAWM Candidate, Assistant Course Organizer
Martha's outdoor adventures began in the wilderness of upstate and western NY. An environmental science fan from way back, she began her love affair with the outdoors with camping, backpacking and sport freshwater fishing with her parents in the Adirondack region. Over the years, she has continued to backcountry camp and hike in various environments. Recently, she's developed a new love of watersports, and is currently exploring the worlds of ocean and whitewater kayaking, whitewater rafting, canoeing and paddleboarding. Between adventures, she found time to become an emergency medicine physician and was thrilled to discover a place where she could dovetail her personal and professional interests! Martha recently became certified as an Advanced Wilderness Expedition Provider and is looking forward to her next explorations!
(Photo: Rappelling in the shower, trying to be like Bowman)
Ryan Holt, WFR, Survivalist, Maine Guide
A Maine native with a deep appreciation and love for the natural world. Having served 8 years in the Marine Corps Infantry from 2003-2011, Ryan found the self discovery he was searching for using nature as a healing tool. It began in the Spring of 2012 with a 2,200 mile thru-hike along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Following his 6 month journey up the East coast, Ryan expanded his new found passions through many other expeditions and an education in wilderness living and guiding. In the Fall of 2013 he became a student of the "yearlong immersion program" at the Jack Mountain Bushcraft School. His experiences range from all types of geographical locations & climates, from 100+ mile snowshoe treks across Minnesota in -50 temperatures, Canoeing 250 miles along the Northern Maine waterways, 9 week immersion learning & living in the North Maine woods, 3 weeks living off the land (NAKED) in Floridas Everglades and 40 days living off the land (NAKED) in the South African bush. Using his knowledge, skill & experience, Ryan has created the Human-Nature Hostel & Wilderness Guide Service on his 42 acres in the western mountains of Maine. You can follow some of his experiences on Discovery Channels #1 reality survival TV series "Naked & Afraid" & "Naked & Afraid XL".
Learn more about Ryan here.
If you want to watch Ryan's episode before meeting him, you can find it here:
Naked in the Everglades is available for $2.99 on Amazon
Or, you can skip all the drama and watch episode 7 ("Deadly Consequences") of South Africa
Bill Gibbons, DO, FAWM
Bill is a 3rd year Family Medicine resident at Lower Bucks Hospital. Bill is the founder and president of the GOALS Adventure Racing Association. For the last 14 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. During this time, 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. 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 has a further interest in OMM in the Wilderness. He has presented the topic at medical conferences and search and rescue courses. He recently help an impromptu treatment clinic for half a dozen AT Through-Hikers in a deluge rainstorm. Talk about “Trail Magic”!
(Photo: Bill, on right, on a Search for a downed Paraglider)
Veronica Coppersmith, DO, FAWM
Veronica is an attending emergency physician for the St. Luke's University Health Network, 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: At the top of Highland Bowl at Aspen)
Nicole Battaglioli, MD, FAWM
Nicole is a practicing Emergency Medicine Physician and organizer of all things Wilderness Medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. 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.
Wilderness Medicine topics of interest include; dive medicine and hyperbaric medicine, poisonous plants, tropical medicine and high altitude medicine.
(Photo: Close encounters of the octopus kind on a dive in Oahu
Christopher Steed, DO, FAWM
Chris is a third year emergency medicine resident physician at York Hospital and a FAWM candidate. He has interests in many outdoor activities including backpacking, road biking, running, skiing, and international missions. His passion for wilderness medicine stems from his background in international missions where he has assisted ministries as well as provided medical care to the underserved.
(Photo: next to Misol-Ha in Palenque, Mexico)
Check out our amazing Faculty!!!!!!
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)
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)
Faculty (In Alphabetic Order)
Bridgette Shipley, WEMT-P
President of Maryland Search & Rescue
Matt Lippy, EMT, OEC
Matt enjoys making a living outside. In the summer he is a U.S. Park Ranger for Yellowstone National Park. In the winter he works as a professional ski patroller at resorts including Killington, Stowe Mountain Resort in VT and Liberty Mountain Resort in PA.
Matt’s training includes search and rescue, technical rescue and tactical woodland tracking. Matt has worked at Shenandoah National Park as a Law Enforcement Ranger in the past he has worked at Yellowstone National Park, Voyageurs National Park as a Law Enforcement Ranger and 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: "Matt at work" and “Tending a Litter, Cliff-side” or “Matt just Hanging Around… again”)
Andrew Frei, MD, FAWM Candidate
Andrew is an emergency medicine attending physician working for ApolloMD on their STRIKE Travel Team. This will be his fourth straight year participating in the PA Wild Med conference. His first exposure to wilderness medicine was on an alternate winter break trip where he helped build a medical clinic for an austere Guatemalan community that lacked one. Most recently he spent several weeks staffing an accident/emergency room and teaching ultrasound in West Africa. He remains involved in teaching out-of-hospital medicine, and can occasionally be found flying around various cities as a flight doc with the local EMS crews.
(Photo: Hiking in Iceland)
Peter Baumeister, D.O., LCDR MC (FS) USNR, FAWM Candidate
Pete is a Second year Emergency Medicine resident at Stanford, Graduate of the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute and FAWM candidate. He is a former US Navy Flight Surgeon, SAR Doc, and F-18 Naval Aviator. During that time, he received training in Wilderness, Mountain, Hot & Cold weather, Aerospace, Under Sea, Tactical, Disaster, Humanitarian, and International Medicine. He has deployed around the world and practiced medicine in a variety of environments; from an altitude of +50,000’ to 200’ below sea level.
Pete’s love for medicine and the outdoors started at a young age. He made his first snowboard at the age of 8, first sewed himself up at 9, and built his first ropes course at 13. He has been on over 400 dives, and is an avid spear fisherman. Pete also loves mountain biking, mountaineering, scuba diving, white water rafting and kayaking. Pete has broken the speed of sound more times than he can count, and has an unyielding thirst for adventure, and above all, spending time with his family in the wilderness.
(Photo: Mont Blanc - Chamonix, France)
Scott McCracken, MD, FAWM
Scott grew up in Emmaus, PA, and caught the backpacking bug early in life as a boy scout. Over the years, Scott's passions have included hiking, backpacking, orienteering, rock and ice climbing, skiing, mountaineering, and Dairy Queen Blizzards throughout North and South America. He has also been a longtime swimmer, cyclist, runner, and cross-country skier, and enjoys all things outdoors with his wife and three children. Scott first got involved in wilderness medicine in 2002 via a Wilderness EMT course, and has taught regularly at WMS Conferences and electives, and to lay audiences including the boy and girl scouts for 15 years. He also serves on the WMS Environmental Council. Scott currently practices family medicine at Wellspan Community Health Center in York, PA.
(Photo: Hiking with the family)
John Rollhauser, WEMT-B, OEC
John has been a professional ski patroller at Sugarloaf Mountain Resort in Maine, the former Pro Patrol Director at Liberty Mountain Resort in Pa. John is a member of Franklin Search and Rescue (FSAR) in Franklin County, ME. He is a member of the FSAR board of directors, and on the FSAR Technical Rope Rescue Team. He is an fire fighter, EMT & rescue technician with the Kingfield Fire Department. John is also an instructor for: Outdoor Emergency Care, lift evacuation, off-trail & rope rescue and climbing. 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 Stephens, MD, FAWM
Matt is currently an attending physician in the York Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine where he also serves as the Medical Student Clerkship Director. His love of the outdoors started early through time spent as a Boy Scout and deepened via other outdoor pursuits such as mountain biking, downhill skiing, and sailing. He enjoys knowing how to make the most of resource-limited situations and teaches these skills both locally and abroad. He is pleased to return for his seventh at this conference having recently completed his FAWM certification.
(Photo: nothing beats Hopping a Cornice)
Archived!!! Faculty
13th Annual Wilderness Medicine & Survival Skills Conference
September 20-22, 2019
Lauren Altschuh, MD, FAWM
Lauren is the Wilderness Medicine Fellow at University of California, San Diego, and a recently graduated Wellspan Emergency Medicine resident. She is a Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, and currently working on both her Diploma in Mountain Medicine, and her Diploma in Marine and Marine Medicine. She is also the Chair of the Wilderness Committee for the Emergency Medicine Resident's Association.
Lauren came to wilderness medicine from her 16 years as a professional ski patroller, hiking guide, sailing instructor, and lover of hammocks under the stars. She lectures nationally on avalanche awareness and wilderness first aid skills. Her wilderness med interests include snow safety, mountain medicine, medical improv and simulation, and group dynamics in wilderness disasters.
(Photo: Spring skiing at Telluride, nothing beats bluebird days.)
Survival Experts
Jenna Jarriel, MD, FAWM Candidate
Jenna is an Emergency Medicine attending physician working in Harrisonburg, VA and FAWM candidate. She loves backpacking, hiking, windsurfing, wakeboarding, and more recently climbing. She has been a member of the National Ski Patrol (NSP) since she was 16, which has greatly fostered her love of 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: Excited to see a baby moose and her mama while hiking in the Tetons)
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.
(Photo: taking a break on Kilimanjaro with his wife, Heather)
Eric Bowman, MD, FACEP, FAWM, Course Organizer
Eric is the Director of the Wilderness Medicine Section within the Department of Emergency Medicine at WellSpan York Hospital's Emergency Medicine Residency, York, Pa. Wilderness Medicine certifications include: Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM); Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) member; certified in Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS), Wilderness Advanced Life Support (WALS) and Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC); active member of the National Ski Patrol (NSP).
Outdoor interests include downhill and backcountry 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: Doing a “Shore Dive” to check out Sea Turtles with niece Danielle at Tamarindo Beach, Culebra, P.R., July 2013)
PA Wild Med.com
Douglas Sward, MD, FAAEM, FAWM,FACEP
Doug is board certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine, currently working 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.
Wilderness medicine interests include: dive medicine, altitude medicine, frostbite, hypothermia, hyperthermia, ultrasound and all manner of improvised wilderness care. Outdoor 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.
(Photo: nothing beats being a “Powder Hound” skiing out West)
Walt Schrading, MD, FACEP, FAWM
Walt is an aeromedical trained emergency physician, with over 100 flights during residency and a current international flight physician and Assistant Medical Director with Airmed International. He is a former 25-year and founding member of the faculty of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at York Hospital. He is now an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is the Director of the Office of Wilderness Medicine and directs the Wilderness Medicine Track in the UAB EM residency training program and wilderness medicine special topics courses for UAB medical students. He has extensive experience teaching AWLS and other wilderness medicine programs. He serves as faculty at both WMS student and resident electives in Roanoke and Breckenridge. He also mentors students and residents in EM and wild med research projects. 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 recently followed in the footsteps of his ancestor, John Wesley Powell, by paddling the Upper Canyon of the Colorado in the Grand Canyon. (JWP was the first explorer of the Grand 150 years ago). He is an athlete and outdoor adventurer. He is a 12-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 will compete in Kona, Hawaii at the world championship on October 10, 2020. 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, MedWars and adventure races; many of which he participates with his brothers or his wife. He finished second with his team of residents at MedWars Southeast in 2017. He is enjoying the heat training in the south!
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