Join us and learn all about: Drowning, Watersafety, Surfing Injuries, Surfers Skin, Maori Surf Culture, Sustainable management of Surf Breaks, Waves under threat in Wellington ! Open for all interested; Medical Professionals, Surfers, Bodyboarders, Kite & Wind Surfers, Lifeguards and all other water sport fanatics! Paddle out with us and learn how to stay healthy, and improve your surfing experience!
The European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD) is once again delighted to announce that:
The ‘4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference‘ is accredited by the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME) to provide the following CME activity for medical specialists. The EACCME is an institution of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). The ‘4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference’ is designated for a maximum of (or ‘for up to’) 16 hours of European external CME credits.
Through an agreement between the European Union of Medical Specialists and the American Medical Association (AMA), physicians may convert EACCME credits to an equivalent number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Live educational activities, occurring outside of Canada, recognized by the UEMS-EACCME for ECMEC credits are deemed to be Accredited Group Learning Activities as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
We are proud to show you the latest video portraying some aspects of “Surfing Medicine”.
Our gratitude to all supporters, contributors, partners, surf med pioneers worldwide, our crew, mother nature, the ocean and the whole surfing community. Keep the surfer healthy and safe!
“As the world’s largest and leading collective of medical professionals in surfing the European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD) is actively contributing to and defining standards for surfer welfare. By connecting health professionals representing all medical specialties with a passion for surfing and the ocean, the EASD seeks to share knowledge, expertise, and experience with the global surf community. In a fast developing global surf community, the EASD’s quest is to “Keep the surfer healthy and safe” through numerous activities, such as: treatment in day-to-day practice, serving as contest medical personnel in both professional and amateur surfing arenas, delivering training courses for medical lays and health professionals alike (Surf Life Support™), conducting scientific research work and publication, defining evidence-based standards within the specialty and the sport at large, and convening the Annual Conference in Surfing Medicine where health professional from all over the world convene. Share the passion? See you on one of the various EASD events and in the water!”
The European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD)
PRESENTS
“The Surfing Medicine Global Outreach Report 2015”
The European Association of Surfing Doctors (EASD) is proud to present the 2nd Surfing Medicine International Community Global Outreach Report. The EASD is a medical, non-profit organization grounded in a commitment to excellence, in the application of state-of-art knowledge, evidence-based science, and transparency to surfer welfare, and in staging 100% certified Continued Medical Education (CME) educational events.
Since our founding four years ago, 120 projects have been successfully realized. We started out with “A Passion for Surfing and Medicine”; with time, dedication, and a lot of hard work, we have developed into the leading medical organization committed to “Keeping the Surfer Healthy and Safe”.
EASD Global Outreach 2015, only a few white spots left!
Presently, professionals from 31 countries working 24/7 on original science and surfing medicine research are establishing the foundations and necessary framework for new, evidence-based standards within surfing, and implementing the gained knowledge and experience won in order to contribute meaningfully to the further improvement and professionalization of surfing medicine and the sport we love dearly. From 373 in 2014, we have grown to 510 members in 2015, representing the largest community of surfing doctors worldwide.
In 2014, the EASD reached out to the big wave community by “Taking Surfing Medicine to the Extreme” at the 3rd Annual Surfing Medicine Conference in Ireland. Designed and delivered by 2013 Billabong XXL Finalist, Peter Conroy, the EASD organized the world’s first multiple-specialization, medical-response PWC rescue training for surfing, sharing our knowledge, experience, and defining new standards and approaches to the safety, prevention, and treatment of emergency situation in big wave surfing.
Convening Conferences with unique people, realizing projects new to the world of medicine and surf science, and consistently exceeding the expectation of expert collaborators; by building on the knowledge of hundreds of medical doctors, academic professors and applied scientists, allied health professionals, and educating the surfing public, whether the everyday surfer or top professional surfing athletes, the EASD is growing from strength-to-strength year on year.
With 2015 well under way, the EASD and the Surfing Medicine International community is once again preparing for the gathering of minds and surfboards at the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference. This year, returning to “The Core of Surfing Medicine”, we are unifying the world’s leading experts on drowning prevention and delivering another first in the form of the world’s largest Drowning Resuscitation Workshop yet seen. Stoked? We are too!
See you in Pays Basque (France) at Conference 2015 in Anglet/Biarritz this September!
Mindful Surfers? Left-to-Right: Gerry Lopez, Dick Brewer, and Reno Abillera. Photo Credit: SURFER Magazine.
What kind of images does the term mindfulness evoke for you? You’d be forgiven for jumping straight to the scene shown inset given the recent heightened enthusiasm and zeal for mindfulness and the promotion of all things mindful by new–age ‘wellness’ industry types. Certainly, for healthcare professionals, whose practice supposedly emanates from scientific evidence – although the legitimate question could often be asked, how many of the interventions we advocate are truly underpinned by robust (complete, unbiased, open-access) scientific data, as opposed to inherited and unquestioned established practice – the area of mindfulness and how to approach it is commonly greeted with an uncomfortable awkwardness. Perhaps this reaction is nothing more than diffidence, or maybe even a healthy professional scepticism, the result of a scientific training. So we thread cautiously, perturbed by the meeting of two seemingly incompatible worlds, a curious juxtaposition; that of scientific endeavour, and that of Vipassana (Insight) meditation, derived from the Buddhist tradition, from which mindfulness originates.
Before I lose any ardent scientists, it is worth reminding ourselves that Buddhism is not a religion, rather an ethical tradition. Secondly, the practice of mindfulness does not imply reclusive contemplative asceticism requiring prolonged immobility in a monastery set high in the Tibetan Himalayas. Although, such a serene environment would almost certainly be conducive to any meditative practice regardless of its tradition of origin! Mindfulness, or the act of being mindful, is a practice that can be incorporated into any daily activity. In the scientific literature, mindfulness (1) has been defined as:
“the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to things as they are”
The exploration of mindfulness-based practices and their therapeutic applications within ‘conventional’ medical/behavioural and cognitive therapy circles began in the late 1970s through the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn. He set up the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester in 1979. Kabat-Zinn and colleagues offered Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) to people with a range of conditions, including chronic pain, panic, anxiety, stress-related GI problems, headaches, sleep disorders, even heart disease, hypertension, AIDS, and cancer. By the early 1990s, they had evaluated the efficacy of their approach to anxiety (2) and chronic pain (3). The evidence demonstrated that most patients experienced sustained physical and psychological symptom reduction. Moreover, they also reported a positive change in attitude, behaviour, and self-perception, and that of others and the world at large.
Encouraged by this latter phenomenon, three psychologists, Zindel Segal, John Teasdale, and Mark Williams, embarked on a journey in the mid 1990s to develop a relapse and recurrence prevention therapy program to help patients with recurrent depression stay well. Ultimately, incorporating elements from cognitive behavioural therapy, drawing on the pioneering work of Aaron Beck (4,5) during the 70s and that of others, in combination with mindfulness-based practices and after much experimental work, research, and clinical evaluation, they successfully developed a maintenance cognitive therapy grounded in the practice of mindfulness now known as Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In 2003, at the time of publication of the first edition of “Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression” by Segal, Teasdale, and Williams, there was only a single trial showing that the intervention was efficacious, and a total of 52 publications that year concerning ‘mindfulness’ in the scientific literature. Ten years later, upon release of the second edition (6), there were five additional research trials evaluating MBCT – including two which compared MBCT to the most commonly used relapse prevention treatment: antidepressant medication – and, in 2011, 397 ‘mindfulness’ related scientific publications that year. The evidence is clear and highly consistent: MBCT is highly effective in relapse reduction for patients with the longest and most recurrent history of depression.
What Lies Beneath? Photo Credit: Dustin Humphrey Photography
The process of bringing our mind to stillness and cultivating awareness in a systematic way is mediated by following our breath. In life, our breath is ever present. Hence, it is the perfect object on which to focus our attention. By drawing our attention to our breath we can remove the continuous, ruminative noise of the mind. In doing so, we access the present moment, free from past reminiscences and future imaginings and awaken to our experience.
Whether we, as surfers, recognise or not, the very act of riding waves behoves awareness of the present moment. The ocean wave itself is a transient, malleable form ever changing in response to any number of variables … bathymetry/bottom contour, wind direction, swell characteristics, even another surfer positioned further out on the shoulder duck diving, and in doing so, hastening the green face to break prematurely.
Manel Saltor will lecture on The Mindful Surfer – Mindfulness Meditation – Mental Preparation. Manel hails from Barcelona in the Cataluña region (Spain) and is a life-long surfer and practitioner of Vipassana and Mindfulness meditation. He began practicing at the age of 24, doing multiple retreats and workshops in Buddhist philosophy and psychology. He has studied and practiced with the disciples of Ajaan Buddhadasa – a great Therevada Buddhist Monk, founder of the Suan Mokkh Monastery, and one of the six most important Vipassana Meditation teachers worldwide. Manel has taught Mindfulness and Vipassana meditation in a number of countries across the globe. His passion for sport, surfing, and the ocean, combined with his understanding of the mind and life led him to develop a mindfulness-based mental training methodology for surfers, the Mindful Surfer workshop.
References:
1. Williams JMG, Teasdale JD, Segal ZV, Kabat-Zinn J. The mindful way through depression: Freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness. New York: Guilford Press, 2007.
2. Kabat-Zinn J, Massion AO, Kristellar J, Peterson LG, Fletcher KE, Pbert L, Lenderking WR, Santorelli SF. Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 1992; 149:936-943.
3. Kabat-Zinn J, Lipworth L, Burney R, Sellers W. Four-year follow-up of a meditation-based program for self-regulation of chronic pain: Treatment outcomes and compliance. Clinical Journal of Pain 1986; 2:159-173.
4. Beck AT. Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders. New York: International Universities Press, 1976.
5. Kovacs MB, Beck AT. Maladaptive cognitive structures in depression. American Journal of Psychiatry 1978; 135:525-533.
6. Segal ZV, Williams JMG, Teasdale JD. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression – 2nd Ed. New York: Guilford Press, 2013.
“Une courte interview avec Dr.Olivier Chambres” by Rosa Tigges
The Conference Promo Tour has reached its halfway point. The crew have been busy promoting the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference in towns and cities up and down the Pays Basque (France) coast. Next, they cross the border to Euskadi / El País Vasco (Spain).
The Conference kicks off this September in Anglet; whilst in the neighbourhood, the crew took the opportunity to catch up with Dr. Olivier Chambres, one of the speakers at the upcoming event. Dr. Chambres lives and works in Anglet as a Head and Neck surgeon; Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) MD; and as a Maxillofacial surgeon in the south west region in a practice in Bayonne.
So, let’s get to know the man behind the lecture!
Dr.Olivier Chambres and Pro Surfer Mick Fanning at Aviron Bayonnais (Rugby match) | Photo: Property of Olivier Chambres
Olivier is from the coast of the Les Landes region. He studied medicine in Bordeaux and Strasbourg. He is a real sportsman at heart and began surfing at 13 years of age. He also practices Pelotte, a traditional Basque sport, and he is coach of his sons’ rugby team at Anglet Olympique Rugby Club. He and a nursing colleague, also a surfer, formed the medical support team for Basque bull fights. They frequently encountered both blunt force and penetrating trauma injury. Wounds comparable to knife stabbings were not uncommon, often requiring emergency procedures directly on-site. This is how Olivier cut his teeth in pre-hospital response and subsequently graduated with a thesis on emergency medicine in bull fighting.
Surfing Medicine for Olivier means being able to combine professional work as a doctor with his main hobby, surfing. He is keen to share his knowledge and stoke about surfing medicine with colleagues and friends. The importance of surfing medicine in the southwest of France cannot be overstated. In Les Landes, due to the remoteness of some breaks, it is a must know topic. Many spots lay some 30-40km from appropriate medical treatment facilities. Sometimes the nearest ‘urban’ center is a small village that would typically have 500 inhabitants, and lots of spots are only accessible with prior authorisation to drive through the forest directly adjoining the coast; so, if something happens, it’s vital to know more about surfing medicine.
The Annual Surfing Medicine Conference provides delegates with specific, evidence-based information through lectures. In addition, you have the chance to practice surfing medicine in the “hands on” workshops. So, any established or budding surfing doctor can become more acquainted with the wide range of probable situations that can occur whilst surfing or at the beach, giving participants the confidence and capability to prevent adverse events or save lives of surfers and beach users within your own surf community.
Olivier returned to the Basque country in 2005 following seven years in Strasbourg. The lack of waves were compensated for by skiing, also one of his favourite pastimes. Surfing fits perfectly in his daily routine, frequently squeezing in a dawn patrol before going to work. He is a doctor with the medical support team for the Big Wave Competition ‘La North’ in Hossegor, held annually in December and January.
During the summertime, he typically treats anything from two to ten injured surfers per week. In the winter the numbers fall back to one or two per month. The most common conditions Olivier sees in his day-to-day practice are skin injuries and bone fractures caused by boards (either own or others’ boards), fins, or rocks. Olivier also encounters skin cancer, external auditory canal exostosis (surfer’s ear), and sinus infections due to polluted water from the river Adour north of Anglet and Louhabia near Guethary.
It was a pleasure to speak with Dr. Chambres. He will lecture on common Maxillofacial Injuries in the Surf, how they are treated, and their prevention this September at Conference 2015.
For the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference attendees are invited to submit a research abstract for an opportunity to present their poster in person! We constantly striving to push the quality of abstracts and presentations. Given the relative infancy of the specialty, there is scare ‘Surfing Medicine’ research published in the scientific literature to date, so NOW is your opportunity to pioneer and play a role in the development of an exciting emerging specialty. Get your writing hats on … you may secure the chance of presenting your research at an International Conference!
DEADLINE for Abstract Submission: Midnight, 20th August 2015
Submit your abstracts via email to: science@surfingdoctorseurope.com
Note: Abstracts should NOT exceed 250 words and MUST be typed in Arial font size 12 with single line spacing. Figures cannot be accepted.
Our team will review all abstracts received and the top five (5) will be awarded the opportunity to present their poster to delegates at the upcoming Conference!
The fabulous prize of a SURFBOARD is up for grabs for the winning individual with the Best Project overall. This year, there will be an additional prize for the Most Impressive ‘Pitch’ (i.e. oral presentation). Details of prize to be confirmed at a later date.
So trade your board for a pen on those lay days, and put some hard work into those abstracts / posters / presentations. The very best of luck to all the surfing medicine researchers out there. We’re looking forward to seeing your work in Pays Basque come Autumn!
For more information on submitting your research, CLICK RESEARCH ABSTRACTS
Guillaume Barucq is a 37-year-old surfer and general practitioner from the Basque coast in France. He works in Biarritz, close to some of the best surfing spots that the Basque coast has to offer. In 2008 he launched Surf-Prevention.com, a website originally intended to educate doctors of the risks of surfing, common injuries and how to minimize the risks associated with the sport. Now almost eight (8) years down the line, he is still the editor of Surf-Prevention and is also an occasional blogger for theinertia.com, with a main focus on promoting surfers’ health, the benefits of surfing and environmental protection. He is a firm believer in the role of seawater, sea air and the marine climate in helping to strengthen our health and prevent illness, and is also a defender of the marine environment because our health is intimately related to the health of the ocean.
He is the author of “Surfers’ Survival Guide” and “Surf Therapy”, two very well sold, French-language health books for surfers. He is also involved in surfing medicine research, and in 2007 he published a study on surfing-related traumatology based on 350 patients admitted to the hospital after surfing accidents in the South West of France. Dr. Barucq studies the benefits of surfing for health and the different medical applications of “Surf Therapy” for people with disabilities, autism, cystic fibrosis and other diseases.
Biography
Surfer’s Survival Guide: Surfez En Toute Sécurité (French)
Dr. Joost Bierens, MD PhD, (The Netherlands, 1954) studied medicine in Nijmegen (NL). He was trained as an anaesthesiologist in Leiden (NL) and emergency physician in Leuven (Belgium). After he completed his training, he worked as an anaesthesiologist and Intensive Care physician (Venlo, NL) and head of the department of Intensive Care and Hyperbaric Medicine (Antwerp, Belgium). At this moment he is the head of the Department of Anesthesiology of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam (NL). In February 2002 he was appointed as Professor in Emergency Medicine at the Department of anesthesiology. The hospital has a function as a supra-regional level I trauma centre and is the ground station for a helicopter mobile medical team. His major fields of attention include emergency and disaster medicine.
The scientific interest in water-related injuries started when he worked as a professional lifeguard during medical school vacations. During his medical career he published more than 80 articles and chapters on drowning, hypothermia and water safety. In 1996 he completed the PhD thesis “Drowning in the Netherlands. Pathophysiology, epidemiology and clinical studies”. He is a regular national and international invited speaker and teacher on these subjects, from a practical rescue level to the clinical intensive care level. He is affiliated to several organisations in this field such as the Royal Dutch Orange Cross, Royal Dutch Lifeboat Institution and the Medical Commission of the International Life Saving Federation. Since the origin of the idea to obtain a global focus on the issue of drowning in 1996, he serves as project co-ordinator of the World Congress on Drowning.
In addition to the activities in the field of water safety, Dr. Joost Bierens is involved in research, education and strategy planning in several other fields such as intubation, infection prevention, medical ethics, diving medicine, resuscitation, emergency medicine and disaster medicine. He has published several articles and chapters in books and presented scientific papers on these topics. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Emergency Medicine.
Biography
Drowning – An Overview of the revised handbook. Maatschappij tot Redding van Drenkelingen (Society to Rescue People from Drowning).
The Annual Paragon Awards, sponsored by Pentair Aquatic Systems, are presented for outstanding contributions to: Competitive Swimming, Water Polo, Competitive Diving, Aquatic Safety, Synchronized Swimming and Recreational Swimming. http://www.ishof.org/joost-bierens,-md,-phd.html
Dr. David Szpilman (Brazil)
David Szpilman graduated from medicine in 1982. He completed his medical residency jobs during 1982 to 1985 as a specialist in internal medicine and intensive care with a focus on drowning, after which he quickly became head of the intensive care unit of the Hospital Municipal Miguel Couto in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Additionally, he became the doctor for the Fire Department in the State of Rio de Janeiro where he was head of the Drowning Recovery Center for 12 years. His current roles involve; board member of medical commission of International Lifesaving Federation (ILS); founding partner, ex-president and current medical director of the Brazilian society of aquatic rescue – SOBRASA; member of the Technical Chamber of sports medicine of the CREMERJ; medical reviewer of journals “Resuscitation” and the “New England Journal of Medicine“. He is the author of 4 books, 61 book chapters and more than 127 national and international medical articles on drowning. He is a frequent guest lecturer worldwide, and has presented at many conferences across the globe; 390 lectures in Brazil, and 22 International (Belgium, Hungary, England (2), Spain (3), UNITED STATES (4), Argentina (3), Venezuela, Uruguay, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal (2), Ireland, and Australia).
Professor Tipton is Professor of Human & Applied Physiology at the Extreme Environments Laboratory, Department of Sport & Exercise Science, University of Portsmouth, UK.
Educated at the Universities of Keele and London, Prof. Tipton joined the University of Surrey in 1986. After 12 years at the Robens Institute and European Institute of Health and Medical Science he moved to the University of Portsmouth in 1998. In addition to his University positions, Professor Tipton was based at the Institute of Naval Medicine (INM) from 1983 to 2004 and was Consultant Head of the Environmental Medicine Division of the INM from 1996. He has spent over 30 years researching and advising the military, industry and elite sports people in the areas of thermoregulation, environmental and occupational physiology and survival in the sea. He has published over 500 scientific papers, reports, chapters and books in these areas.
Professor Tipton has been a Consultant in Survival and Thermal Medicine to the Royal Air Force and UKSport; he sits on the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Medical and Survival Committee, and the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society’s Medical Advisory Board. In 2004, Prof. Tipton was made an Honorary Life Member of the International Association for Safety & Survival Training (IASST) in recognition of his work in sea survival. He chaired UKSport’s Research Advisory Group and now sits on the English Institute of Sports’ Technical Advisory Group. Prof. Tipton chairs the Energy Institute’s Health Technical Committee; he a Trustee of Surf Lifesaving GB and Senior Editor of the journalExtreme Physiology and Medicine. Prof. Tipton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, he provides advice to a range of universities, government departments, industries, medical, search and rescue, and media organisations.
Dr. Brian Tissot (California, USA)
Professor Tissot is a surfer and a marine ecologist with over three decades of experience conducting research on temperate and tropical marine ecosystems. He received his Ph.D. in Zoology from Oregon State University and has held positions at the University of Hawaii and Washington State University. He currently serves as the Director of the Marine Laboratory at Humboldt State University and lives in Trinidad, CA. He has published over 70 papers in scientific journals and has been awarded over $7 million in research grants in his career and serves on multiple scientific advisory boards. Brian’s work has been featured in Scientific American, Smithsonian magazine, the Washington Post and several films.
His Benthic Ecology Laboratory is focused on scientific research that improves the understanding, management and conservation of marine ecosystems. In collaboration with local communities, agencies, and a variety of other organizations, he develops and implements innovative solutions to marine resource issues. Working in Hawaii for the last 20 years, Dr. Tissot and his colleagues have improved the management of the aquarium fishery along the Kona coast by developing a community-based, collaborative research program on marine protected areas. Along the California and Oregon coasts he has worked on deep sea fisheries and their effects on structure-forming invertebrates and his research has been used to formulate management strategies for bottom trawling and protecting essential fish habitat.
In addition to his scientific research Tissot (aka “Dr. Abalone”) also produces surfing videos on YouTube and blogs about surfing, marine biology and environmental issues on his site BrianTissot.com.
Stay tuned to the Homepage / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Vimeo over the coming days and weeks for more information on the 4th Annual Conference in Surfing Medicine and Keynote Speaker announcements!
Registration
Secure your place at the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference in Pays Basque Now!
The Pipeline Surf Medicine Conference was organised by Waves of Health in conjunction with the Straub Clinic and Hospital, Honolulu, Hawaii, and took place on Saturday, 6th December 2014.
Medical specialists, including Dr. Clayton Everline MD, and allied healthcare professionals gathered to share their knowledge, experience, and insight, into the treatment and management of conditions commonly affecting surfers. The Conference explored topics such as: The Aging Surfer; Ankle Injuries; Mauli Ola; Trauma and Pre-hospital care; Surfer’s Shoulder; and Knee Injuries.
Note: Video footage from the Pipeline Surf Medicine Conference was kindly provided by Chris Bednarek. The final edit was complied by Bas Bartholomeus for the EASD.
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The Conference Promo Tour has reached its halfway point. The crew have been busy promoting the 4th Annual Surfing Medicine Conference in towns and cities up and down the Pays Basque (France) coast. Next, they cross the border to Euskadi / El País Vasco (Spain).
Olivier returned to the Basque country in 2005 following seven years in Strasbourg. The lack of waves were compensated for by skiing, also one of his favourite pastimes. Surfing fits perfectly in his daily routine, frequently squeezing in a dawn patrol before going to work. He is a doctor with the medical support team for the Big Wave Competition ‘La North’ in Hossegor, held annually in December and January.
Dr. Guillaume Barucq (Basque coast, SW France)
Dr. Joost Bierens MD PhD MCDM (The Netherlands) 
Dr. David Szpilman (Brazil)
Prof. Mike Tipton (Portsmouth, UK)
