Confessions of a Polar Explorer with Stefano Tricanico

World Extreme Medicine Podcast

Host Stephen Wood is joined by, Stefano Tricanico a polar explorer, spelunker, engineer and medic. He was born and raised in South Africa, which is what lit the spark for his interest in adventure. He has been exploring the earth’s wild places for over 20 years and documenting his travels using photography as a tool to share his experiences. Stefano has led an adventurous and nomadic life dominated by mountaineering and exploratory expeditions in the Himalayas and Patagonian Andes. He has guided over 200 alpine caving trips and volunteered for the British Columbia and Alberta Cave Rescue Team. He spent three winters instructing dog sledding and winter survival to the British Armed Forces on the frozen lakes of the Canadian Rockies.

His deep appreciation for the natural world led him to spend considerable time volunteering at sea for Sea Shepherd marine conservation society as a Bridge Officer, 3rd Engineer, Ship Medic, Zodiac chase boat driver and drone pilot to help preserve and protect our ocean environment from overexploitation. Currently, he works as an expedition guide, bear guard and Zodiac driver in the Polar regions for most of the season and is a certified PTGA Senior Polar Guide.

His dream and inspiration have always been to discover the wild and unexplored corners of the world, and this continues to be the driving force in his life. He hopes to share these experiences with others, to broaden their view of the world so that we can all grow to appreciate it more and take it less for granted.

In this episode, we explore the importance of conservation and conservation activism. Stefano reflects on the importance of the voice of the consumer and how this can impact conservation efforts. This serves as a launching point for medical preparedness in austere environments. Through storytelling, we explore several medical scenarios and how expert training prepared him for these crisis events