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.

Craig McArthur

Vice-President - 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.

Svea Brousseau

Secretary - RN, BSN

Svea was born in Behchokǫ̀, Northwest Territories and grew up in the Okanagan.

She is a Critical Care trained RN who works in both ICU and Emergency at Kelowna General Hospital, and enjoys rural contracts in Northern BC clinics and hospitals. Prior to nursing, Svea was a creative director and designer.

Svea is passionate about nature, hiking, backcountry skiing, and traveling.

Paula Slaney

Treasurer - 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

Maj, MD, MSc, CCFP-EM, FAWM
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.

Miles Randell

Based in Squamish, BC, Miles has been practicing wilderness medicine since 1991 in SAR across western Canada, has been a paramedic since 1997, and was a pro ski patroller at Blackcomb from 2004-2022. As TEAAM Aeromedical president, and flight paramedic, and with speciality skill sets in helicopter hoist and longline rescue, mountain rescue and swift water rescue, Miles has been performing rescues and repatriations more than half his life. With a small business called SARMed, that focuses on teaching wilderness medicine for SAR and guides, wilderness medicine is his life.

He’s passionate about the specialty of wilderness medicine and is excited about working with the Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine to further this fascinating and rewarding field.

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, and has been attached to the Infant Transport Team for the last 5 years. He has just taken a Practice Educator position with BCEHS, as well as working as Lead Instructor for the Advanced Care Paramedic program at the Justice Institute of BC. He has worked across Canada and the US, from fixed wing medicine in the far north to rotor based HEMS in large urban areas.

He is passionate about wilderness and austere environment medicine, working as a  part time 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 such as enduro races, Crankworx, and Gran Fondos. He has spent 10 summers as a raft guide, and is a certified mountain bike guide; he is also a frontline member of TEAAM.

Matthew  has extensive experience in adult and outdoor education, holding a diploma in adult education and working for 5 years as a clinical educator in the Ontario base hospital program, as well as working as an outdoor educator, wilderness first aid and CPR instructor.

He lives in Squamish, BC with his family and a rescue pup named Cache, who loves the mountains as much as Matthew does. He is excited about taking on a larger role with CAWM and adding a voice from the perspective of a frontline paramedic, patroller, and educator.

Kendra Young

BSc, MD, FRCPC-EM (DiMM, FAWM and MHSE Candidate)

Kendra Young is an FRCPC Emergency Medicine physician in Calgary and a Clinical Instructor with the University of Calgary.

She is currently completing her DiMM and FAWM certifications in addition to her Master of Education in Health Sciences Education. Kendra is passionate about knowledge dissemination and has been involved with the CAWM conferences since 2021. She was the co-chair for the CAWM2023 conference and is the co-chair for the upcoming CAWM2024 conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Kendra gets stoked on all things outdoors with a special love for climbing and ski touring.

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)

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