The carrot without the stick - lessons learnt from Ukraine

With

Mr Aaron Barker and Mr Ben Blair

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Presenter bios:

Aaron Barker

With 17 years of experience in prehospital critical care and tactical medicine, Aaron Barker is a paramedic experienced in providing medical support in challenging environments. A former combat medic in the U.S. Army, he has worked in various settings, including direct patient care and medical instruction across the United States, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Ukraine.

In Ukraine, Aaron served as an operations director for two NGOs, where he trained Ukrainian military personnel, provided medevac support, and managed medical staffing at trauma stabilization points in close coordination with the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Aaron is currently a medical student in Europe.

Ben Blair

Ben has amassed nearly a decade of experience in pre-hospital medicine. His medical career began in Eastern Canada working as a Primary Care Paramedic in the province of Nova Scotia. From Canada, Ben continued his career in New South Wales working a variety of roles including cardiac technician, wilderness events medic and with New South Wales Ambulance where he currently operates as a paramedic within the Sydney Metropolitan area. Ben's career in pre-hospital medicine has taken him to a variety of countries including Samoa, Bosnia, and the United States.

In addition to Ben's medical experience comes 8 years of military and tactical experience, serving with the Canadian forces in special operations and working as a private contractor in various hotspots around the world including Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan and Chad. 

Ben deployed to Ukraine in July 2024, originally assisting with medevacs and trauma stabilisation points in the Donbas region. He eventually ran training courses for Ukrainian Military personnel in both military medicine and military tactics.