Remote retrieval with Dan Stretch

World Extreme Medicine Podcast

In this session we will be speaking with Dan Stretch on the challenges of casevac from Nepal and Pakistan. Dan works as the Operations Manager at Global Rescue LLC within the APAC region and has had to retrieve and coordinate retrieval of critically ill patients from some of the most challenging regions in the world. The region Dan operates in include the Himalayas in Nepal, and K2 in Pakistan. These mountain ranges are collectively some of the deadliest in the world and pose some of the most difficult retrievals that any air ambulance system could face. There has also been a 4-fold increase in retrievals post covid, something we will dig into further in the interview.

In this conversation we will look at Dan’s approach to crisis response operations. Also, the coordination and logistics for transfer from these remote locations (includes air, ground, sea, etc.) and the training involved in maintaining operational response readiness. We will also look at the difficulties of getting accurate information from the scene of the incident, and logistics efforts required to get these patients out of the environment. We will speak about transfer in and out of Tenzing–Hillary Airport, also known as Lukla Airport – one of the most difficult airports to fly in and out of.