This week, Aebhric O’Kelly is joined by Antonio from European Medics to discuss his first experience attending the Special Operations Medical Association Symposium, the growing importance of Medical Support to Irregular Warfare (MSIW), and how civilian and military healthcare systems must integrate to prepare for future conflicts and disasters.
Antonio reflects on lessons from occupied Poland, resistance medicine, Ukrainian battlefield realities, and the importance of resilience, logistics, telemedicine, and improvised medicine in modern austere healthcare systems.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Antonio’s background
01:10 First experience attending SOMA
03:10 “People over products” in tactical medicine
04:30 Civilian involvement in special operations medicine
06:50 Key lessons from the MSIW track
09:45 What is Medical Support to Irregular Warfare (MSIW)?
11:10 Historical resistance medicine in Poland and the Baltics
15:00 Underground clinics and covert evacuation chains
17:30 Telemedicine in resistance healthcare
18:30 How civilian medics can prepare for MSIW
21:00 TCCC, JTS CPGs, and tactical medicine education
22:00 European Medics Tactical Clinical Operations (TCO) course
23:30 Taiwan, resilience, and whole-of-society defence
26:20 Logistics and manufacturing challenges in conflict
28:40 Relationship building and NATO interoperability
29:10 3D printing and improvised medicine
31:20 Antonio’s passion for guerrilla medicine
34:00 Future plans: anaesthesia, ICU, and flight medicine
35:10 Advice for new medics entering austere medicine
37:00 Closing remarks
Episode Highlights
First impressions from the SOMA Symposium
Why “people over products” matters in tactical medicine
Civilian-military integration in modern conflict
What MSIW (Medical Support to Irregular Warfare) actually means
Historical resistance medicine in Poland and the Baltics
Lessons from Ukraine and occupied territories
Underground clinics and covert casualty evacuation
Telemedicine and distributed healthcare networks
Why civilian clinicians should learn TCCC
Logistics, supply chains, and local manufacturing during war
3D printing and improvised medical equipment
The future of European resilience medicine
Advice for new medics entering austere medicine
