Honours and Awards
Nominations are currently OPEN for the 2026 cycle!
Do you know someone who has demonstrated exceptional work and/or care given in the filed of wilderness medicine? Nominate them for an award!
To submit a nomination, please email awards@cawm.ca
Nominations are due July 15, 2026. The nomination process is described below.
Description
The Canadian Association of wilderness medicine awards and recognition program was created to recognize persons within the wilderness medical community with exceptional work and/or care given in the field of wilderness medicine. The range of these awards is quite broad with the goal of being able to capture any discipline from first responder and initial care to clinical work or program management. The intent of these awards is to give them out at the annual conference and in addition, one award will also be given to a medical learner at the conference with the best presentation as voted on by members attending.
Awards, descriptions and categories are listed below as is the nomination process.
Service Level Awards
Outstanding presentation by a medical learner
Nominations and Evaluation
To be eligible for a CAWM award, the individual must meet the following requirements...
1. No individual may receive a specific award more than once in a lifetime.
2. Award winners must be members of CAWM (except for the Mt Logan service and Umingmak Nuna recognition awards which may be conferred on non-member individuals)
3. Self-nominations are not accepted.
4. Nominations received after the submission deadline will not be considered.
Nominations are OPEN!
Nomination letters must be signed but can then be submitted electronically to CAWM. Letters must include the award category and the justification supporting the nominee (maximum 800 words).
Please send your nomination letter(s) to awards@cawm.ca
Nominations are due July 15, 2026.
Nominations will be compiled and candidacy qualifications checked. Candidates may be asked to provide additional documentation, including curriculum vitae and biosketches.
The Awards and Recognition committee will evaluate the complete packages. Independent evaluations will be completed by a minimum of three committee members and then discussed for consensus decisions. Any committee member nominated for an award will be recused from the current cycle of candidate evaluation for that award. If the committee does not have a quorum, interim evaluators will be appointed by the CAWM board to conduct the review cycle.
A list of qualified nominees and the recommendations of the Awards and Recognition committee will be sent to the board for final approval. Awards, if issued, will be announced at the annual Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine Conference. Awards may not be issued every year.
2025 Award Recipients
Cyril Shokoples
Cyril Shokoples is an Internationally certified Mountain Guide (ACMG/IFMGA), ITRA Level 3 Technical Rescue Instructor, Open Water Scuba Instructor and EMS Instructor with a combined forty-five years of experience in mountaineering, climbing and teaching wilderness emergency care and avalanche safety. Over the course of his climbing career, he has responded to a variety of wilderness emergencies from avalanche rescues to serious climbing falls. Cyril’s background includes eight years at the Alberta Vocational College as coordinator of the Prehospital Care Programs. He was an EMS instructor for many years and was one of the founders of Portage College's nationally accredited EMT programs. While at the Alberta Vocational College, he was also responsible for the creation of the Parks Emergency Responder program for national park wardens in Canada. Cyril was on the provincial committee that created the Emergency Medical Responder program for entry level ambulance attendants.
Cyril has demonstrated inspiring leadership in teaching wilderness emergency care for more than 20 years and has made a measurable impact teaching courses for mountain professionals in our western and northern parks. “Wilderness Emergency Care” is a highly specialized advanced first aid course recognized by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and long used by many agencies to train their guides. Cyril has taught various levels of wilderness first aid courses to professionals and amateur outdoor enthusiasts alike in Alberta, BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. He previously designed and delivered the Alpine Club of Canada’s TNF National Summer Mountain Leadership course and the TNF National Winter Mountain Leadership Course for two decades. Cyril has been the chief instructor of the Canadian Forces Search and Rescue Technicians (SARTECHs) Basic and Advanced Mountaineering and Mountain Rescue Courses for three decades and it’s interesting to note that currently, there are no active-duty Canadian Military SAR members who have not been trained by Cyril and his team.
Cyril is an honourary member of the Alpine Club of Canada and a past president of the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides. He was honoured in November of 2022 as the Patron of the ACC / ACMG Guide's Ball. Later in the fall of 2022 he was the keynote speaker at the Canadian Association of Wilderness Medicine's Annual Conference and he continues to provide seminars at the CAWM conferences on a yearly basis.
Cyril has a passion for seeing his students learn and succeed. He works hard in encouraging his students to reach their full potential as wilderness first aid providers. He goes above and beyond, always injecting his courses with new information and the latest best practices.
Dr. Paula Slaney
This past year, Paula has poured countless hours into her passion for wilderness medicine through her work with CAWM. As Vice-President of the board, and a key member of both the Conference Planning and Education Committees, she has been a driving force behind helping CAWM form new partnerships with like-minded organizations, SAR teams, academic institutions, and professionals across the country. In March, Paula was diagnosed with breast cancer. Yet, with extraordinary strength and determination, she continued to show up to every meeting, every conversation, and every milestone of our organization’s growth and development. Through each round of chemotherapy, she remained a steady voice of leadership and encouragement, inspiring all of us with her courage. This past August, Paula celebrated ringing the bell after her final round of chemo, a true testament to her resilience and unwavering spirit. She is more than a leader in wilderness medicine, she is an advocate, a role model, and a reminder of the strength found in community and perseverance. It is with deep admiration and gratitude that I nominate Paula for this award.
Connor Hass
Talk: "Cheeks, Palms, and Soles: Our Cooling Superhighways for Managing Heat Illness"
2024 Award Recipients
Blair Doyle
Blair Doyle has been a keystone member of the wilderness medicine community in Eastern Canada for decades. A paramedic by training, not only is Blair a highly sought after wilderness medicine instructor, he has taken on a variety of leadership roles within the wilderness medicine community. Blair has been involved in Search and Rescue (SAR) since 1988. He has held many leadership roles within his local team (Halifax SAR) including serving as Search Director since 2008. He teaches SAR management courses across Eastern Canada. Blair was the first provider to bring the Canadian Red Cross’s (CRC) Wilderness and Remote First Aid program to Eastern Canada. Blair organized this first course for his SAR team, recognizing the group required training beyond urban first aid. Blair has run numerous other courses for groups who look after Canadians in the wilderness, such as local SAR teams and provincial and national Parcs staff. Blair also became one of the region’s first Instructor Trainers, thereby building the community and multiplying his impact on wilderness safety.
At a national level, Blair volunteered with the CRC’s First Aid Technical Advisory Group from 2010 – 2019 serving as the Specialty Chair (Wilderness). He was also involved in developing the national CRC Wilderness and Remote First Responder curriculum. Blair is an instructor with Paddle Canada, a Rescue Canada Swift Water Rescue Instructor, and a PADI Divemaster. He is a Past President of both Paddle Canada and Canoe Kayak NS. Combining his SAR and paddling backgrounds, Blair was instrumental in the development of the national PaddleSmart program. Blair’s impressive contributions have previously been recognized by a Governor General Sovereign’s Medal, and National SAR Program Award of Excellence.
Matthew Smith
Matthew is a critical care flight paramedic working for British Columbia Emergency Health Services. He works for the Whistler Bike Park patrol in summer, with Blackcomb Ski Patrol in winter. He has been a paramedic for 20 years, and has worked as a land ACP, Tactical medic, and member of the Paramedic Bike Unit. He has worked as lead educator for the Advanced Care Paramedic program at The Justice Institute of British Columbia, and is currently a Paramedic Practice Educator for BCEHS. He is currently the director of www.canadianoutdoormed.com, a wilderness first aid training and risk management agency. Matt has lived and worked across Canada and the US, from the Yukon to BC to Wyoming, and has experience as a raft guide, ski patroller, ski instructor, a PMBI level 1 mountain bike instructor, and is working as a tail guide for mechanized and self propelled ski operations. He holds a diploma in Adult Education from St FX, and a diploma in Outdoor Education from Columbia College. He lives in the Coast mountains in Squamish with his family and a rescue puppy.
James Dahmer
James Dahmer is the program director of the CSMM’s AHEMS program. He has been in the public service since the age of 17, from the Canadian Forces infantry to structural and wildland firefighter, Ski Patroller, Paramedic, Search and Rescue Technician, Rope Access and Rescue instructor, and hoist operator. He maintains a strong passion for driving relevant, realistic, and relatable training in the fields of paramedicine and technical rescue. From Tactical Combat Medicine to Advanced Care in austere settings, he has a healthy respect for the fine line between patient care and rescue complexity. When time allows, he sails the gulf islands, restores vehicles, and can be found adventuring with his dog, Timber.
James performed an incredibly complex high risk rescue for two critically injured climbers in the summer of 2024. This involved a longline rescue, load transfer to an anchor, packaging of patient, transfer back to long line, and then repeat. Injuries included pelvic and femur fractures.
Shaelene Standing and Constance de Schaetzen
Talk: "Beyond Lyme: Unveiling the Threat of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, A Fatal Tick-Borne Disease"
2023 Award Recipients
Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht
Gordon Giesbrecht, Ph.D. is a Professor of Thermophysiology in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, at the University of Manitoba. Gordon studies human responses to exercise/work in extreme environments and has been the Director of the Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Medicine since 1991. He has conducted hundreds of cold water immersion studies that have provided life-saving information about physiology and pre-hospital care for human hypothermia. He has also conducted over 100 vehicle submersions with people in them, to study survival and exit strategies in sinking vehicles. He has over 100 publications, and helped create instructional educational programs for drowning prevention and treatment, such as Cold Water Boot Camp (www.coldwaterbootcamp.com); Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp (www.beyondcoldwaterbootcamp.com); Baby It’s Cold Outside (www.bicorescue.com for responders and www.ownthecold.ca for the general public) and written protocols used by Emergency Response Operators around the world.
Dr. Giesbrecht has been a consultant for the military in Canada, the US and Sweden (including US Special Forces and JTF2 in Canada), as well as the Coast Guard in both Canada and the US. He has also worked with the FBI and other law enforcement organizations across Canada and the US.
Gordon was dubbed Professor Popsicle in a feature article in Outdoor Magazine in 2003, and has appeared on the “Late Show With David Letterman” in 2004, “The Nature of Things with David Suzuki” (twice), and the “Rick Mercer Report” (three times). He has also been featured on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and several National Network News Networks in both Canada and the US. Dr. Giesbrecht’s combination of scientific publication and media profile have paved the way for extensive experience with knowledge translation for non-scientific target groups in the areas of cold water survival and drowning prevention.
Dr. Neal Pollock
Dr Neal Pollock holds a Research Chair in Hyperbaric and Diving Medicine and is an Associate Professor in Kinesiology at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. He was previously Research Director at Divers Alert Network (DAN) in Durham, North Carolina. His academic training is in zoology, exercise physiology and environmental physiology. His research interests focus on human health and safety in extreme environments. He is an editor emeritus of the journal Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.
Dr. Kavi Singh
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!
Mike Koppang
Mike is a professional Mountain Rescue Specialist based out of Canmore working with Alberta Parks. He has been working with parks since the late 1990s and since then had responded to numerous backcountry accidents of all types throughout the region. He is one of the Founding members of the Canadian Mountain parks backcountry medical council that coordinates medical directors and rescue specialists between the National parks and Kananaskis region. In addition to working in the rescue field Mike is also a professional member of both the Canadian avalanche association and the Association of Canadian Mountain guides and actively works for RK Heliski as well private ski touring guiding work.
2022 Award Recipients
Dr. Jeff Boyd
Avalanche rescue would not be where it is today without this honorary member of the ACMG. Dr. Boyd is a physician whose personal life is based in the wilderness, and whose professional life has changed the way medicine is applied in that environment. Jeff provided years of expertise to the ICAR-MEDCOM, the avalanche community in Canada, CMH heli-skiing, and the Banff Emergency Department. A leader in the research of avalanche victims in Canada and a true outdoorsman, Dr. Boyd is to Canadian wilderness medicine as was Neil Armstrong to Space exploration
Dr. Steve Roy
Dr. Steve Roy has been a pioneer in developing wilderness medical education in Canada. Through his educational programs he has introduced a number of clinicians to the possibility of incorporating wilderness medicine into their professional careers. Dr. Roy is an intensive care physician and a consultant in high altitude and wilderness medicine. He holds three diplomas in Mountain Medicine as well as a post-graduate Diploma in Remote and Offshore Medicine. He sits on the Medical Commission of the International Commission of Alpine Rescue, the UIAA Medical Committee, the WMS Research Committee, the Executive Committee of the International Society for Mountain Medicine, and the CAWM Governance Committee. Dr. Roy was also a founding member of CAWM. Dr. Roy has been involved in teaching wilderness medicine to medical learners at all stages of training. He developed and runs a wilderness medicine weekend for undergraduate medical students at McGill University, and he is the Director of the Diploma in Wilderness & Expedition Medicine. He has taught on the Canadian Society of Mountain Medicine’s Diploma in Mountain Medicine (DiMM) course, which is the only DiMM course taught in Canada. He is also the founder and co-program director of the WildernessMD/McGill University Resident Physician Elective in Wilderness Medicine which is the only elective in wilderness medicine for resident physicians available in Canada. Graduates of this program have gone on to be SAR Medical Directors, expedition physicians, Everest Base Camp physicians, wilderness medicine educators, wilderness medicine researchers, and leaders within CAWM.Through his many educational efforts, Dr. Roy has played a formative role in building the wilderness medicine community here in Canada. His impact continues to spread as his former students are now taking on leadership roles within the wilderness medicine community and in turn inspiring the next generation of wilderness medicine clinicians.
Miles Randell
In April 2014, Mr. Randell was part of a team that helped resuscitate Christine Newman, a hypothermia victim with one of the coldest ever recorded core temperatures. Miles played a key role relying on his wilderness medicine knowledge and working against a system that literally would have left Christine for dead. After almost 3 hours of CPR by bystanders and first responders, the air ambulance service would not fly due to policy at the time. Mr. Randell and his team knew that with the right care Christine could survive. Bending many rules Miles coordinated the evacuation to his colleague, leading Canadian hypothermia physician, Dr. Doug Brown. After over 4 hours of CPR and many administrative hurdles, Miles and his team performed a miracle. Since this incident Miles has worked tirelessly to change policy to ensure those hurdles have been removed.
Dr. Stefan Cowtan
Talk: "Oropharyngeal Frostbite? A Rare Case of Cold-induced Airway Collapse"
