Board of Directors

CAWM is run by a volunteer Board of Directors. Board Members are elected by the CAWM Membership at the Annual General Meeting, in accordance with the CAWM By-Laws.

Alana Hawley

President - MD, FRCPC-EM, DiMM, FAWM

Alana Hawley is an FRCPC Emergency Medicine physician at Penticton Regional Hospital and a Clinical Instructor with UBC. Alana completed a Wilderness Medicine fellowship at University of Utah as well as the Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) and the Fellowship of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM).

Alana has been on the CAWM board since 2020. She is a Wilderness Medicine practitioner, educator, and researcher. Alana volunteers as the Medical Advisor of Penticton Search and Rescue and serves on the BC Search and Rescue Medical Advisory Committee.

Personal interests include rock climbing, diving, mountain biking, skiing, and mountaineering.

Paula Slaney

Vice-President - MD, CCFP, FAWM

Paula is a rural family physician living in Newfoundland and a clinical assistant professor with the department of family medicine at Memorial University. She completed her fellowship in the academy of wilderness medicine (FAWM) in 2019. She is passionate about wilderness medicine education and research as well as promoting the benefits of spending time in nature.

Her favorite activities include hiking, kayaking, camping, and traveling with her partner, Matthew and their two dogs, Everest, and Ziggy.

Dave Jerome

Treasurer - Maj, MD, MSc, CCFP-EM, FAWM, DiMM, DiWEM

Dave is a Family/ER Physician living in Kamloops BC. He works as a Medical Officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, and has deployed overseas with both the Army and the Navy. He has volunteered for over 10 years with Ground SAR teams in NS, NL, NWT and BC, and he completed his Fellowship in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM) in 2020. Dave was one of the co-founders of CAWM in 2020 and served as the Association's Founding President from 2020-2023. Dave’s favourite outdoor activities include paddle sports, diving, orienteering, backcountry hiking and sport climbing.

Svea Brousseau

Secretary - BSN, RN

Svea was born in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories and grew up in the Okanagan.
She is a Critical Care RN who works in ICU, Critical Care Outreach, and Emergency at Kelowna General Hospital, Integrated Crisis Response with Kelowna RCMP, and Emergency at PLC in Calgary. Svea also enjoys rural contracts in Northern BC communities. Prior to nursing, Svea was a creative director and designer.
Svea spends her time away from work travelling, hiking and backcountry skiing.

Craig McArthur

ACP, DiMM

Craig was a little late to the party with EMS being his third attempt at a career. After completing early EMS training in Calgary, he worked for several years in safety and industrial settings before moving to Inuvik, NWT to work on North America’s northern most EMS service for a couple of years. Returning to Edmonton for ACP training saw him sent to Banff EMS as a student. Recognizing a good thing when it comes along, he later joined their team and has been there for the last 14 years. Enrollment in the Diploma in Mountain Medicine program with the WMS has brought him to a number of WMS conferences, and he was involved with their efforts to build a local hospital in a remote village in Nepal. He tells people that he is a good skier, and resides in Banff, AB where he continues spinning that yarn.

Kavi Singh

MD, CCFP-EM, DiMM

25 years ago in a Twin Otter with a patient in septic shock & IV lines frozen solid, Kavi realized medical school had really not fully prepared him for austere resus, polar bears & skidoo medevacs in N. Quebec’s Nunavik & James Bay.

After many WTF moments, he looked outside medicine & took lessons from other performance under pressure disciplines such as whitewater kayaking, combat sports and tactical medicine.

15 years later he returned to residency for his CCFP-Emergency Medicine to bridge the rural-urban divide in emergency medical education.

He luckily stumbled upon CAWM and has found a happy, hardworking group of likeminded passionate people!

Matthew Smith

CCP/ITT, W-EMT

Matthew holds a BC critical care paramedic licence, specializing in pediatric and neonatal critical care working with the Infant Transport Team . He has worked as a Practice Educator with BCEHS, as well as working as Lead Instructor for the Advanced Care Paramedic program at the JIBC

He is passionate about wilderness and austere environment medicine, working as a part time pro patroller on Blackcomb mountain in winter and the Whistler Bike Park in summer, as well as working as a frontline risk manager for many various outdoor sporting events, as director of Canadian Outdoor Medical Consulting. He holds diplomas in Outdoor and Adult education.

He lives in Squamish, BC with his family and a rescue pup named Cache.

Raz Peel

PCP, FAWM

Raz is a climber, paramedic, ski patroller, educator, technology wizard/programmer and croissant connoisseur. In his free time, Raz volunteers and holds leadership roles in various organizations, including Squamish Search and Rescue and the Red Cross. Raz loves puns and used to be indecisive, although now he's not so sure.

Past Board Members

Steve Roy (Founding Member: 2020)

Chris Lipp (Founding Member: 2020)

Anne-Marie LeBlanc (Founding Member: 2020-2023)

Heather White (Founding member: 2020 - 2023)

Dave Healey (2020-2021)

Mackenzie Wardle (2020-2021)

Tyler Semmens (2021)

Mike Webster (2022)

Mike Koppang (2021 - 2023)

Kendra Young (2022-2024)

Bree Kullman (2025)

Miles Randell (2022-2025)

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All Members of CAWM are entitled to run for the Board of Directors and attend the Annual General Meeting

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