This week, Aebhric O'Kelly speaks with Axel Ernir Viðarsson, an advanced EMT, firefighter and search and rescue instructor based in Akureyri, northern Iceland.
With more than 20 years of volunteer search and rescue experience, Axel offers fascinating insight into Iceland's emergency medical services, wilderness rescue operations, and the challenges of delivering prehospital care in one of Europe's most geographically demanding environments.
Chapters
00:00 – Introduction to Axel Ernir Viðarsson
01:18 – Rescue 26: Iceland's International Search and Rescue Conference
03:27 – Bringing Prehospital Ultrasound to Iceland
05:39 – The Future of POCUS in Icelandic Ambulance Services
07:15 – Firefighting, Ambulances and Fixed-Wing Air Evacuation
09:55 – What Is a Smoke Diver?
11:34 – How Iceland's EMS and Search and Rescue Systems Work Together
13:26 – Volcanic Eruptions and Search and Rescue Operations
16:29 – Tourist Rescues, Blizzards and Wilderness Emergencies
17:56 – Iceland's Paramedic Education and Overseas Training
19:41 – Designing the Ideal Icelandic EMS System
21:22 – Advanced EMT Training in Iceland
24:44 – Could CoROM's BSc Remote Paramedic Practice Work in Iceland?
27:17 – Prolonged Patient Care in Iceland's Remote Wilderness
29:32 – Coordinating EMS, Search and Rescue and Air Ambulance Evacuation
32:29 – Choosing Between Akureyri and Reykjavík Hospitals
33:26 – When the Patient Is Nothing Like the Dispatch Report
34:29 – Axel's Journey into Search and Rescue
37:06 – Becoming a Wilderness Medicine Instructor
38:54 – Teaching, Avalanche Rescue and Wilderness First Aid
40:11 – Why Austere Medicine Makes Better Clinicians
41:21 – Learning from Students and Fellow Instructors
42:32 – Advice for New Austere Medicine Practitioners
43:38 – Getting Involved in Conferences and Professional Education
44:26 – Final Thoughts and Future CoROM Training in Iceland
Topics Discussed
- Icelandic emergency medical services and advanced EMT practice
- Volunteer search and rescue and the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR/ISAR)
- Volcanic eruptions, avalanche rescue and wilderness emergencies
- Fixed-wing air ambulance operations and Coast Guard helicopter evacuation
- Prolonged field care and remote patient transport
- Point-of-care ultrasound in prehospital medicine
- Advanced EMT and paramedic education pathways
- International collaboration in remote paramedic education
- Wilderness medicine instruction and professional development
- The importance of networking, conferences and lifelong learning
