Knowledge gained during a humanitarian crisis should strengthen the people responding to that crisis while helping others prepare more effectively for the future.
Since 2022, the World Extreme Medicine Fund has worked alongside medical professionals in Ukraine, delivering equipment, trauma training and operational support in environments where evacuation, infrastructure and access to definitive care can never be assumed.
Those experiences are now helping to shape the next generation of prolonged casualty care training.
From 28th September – 2nd October 2026, the WEM Fund will deliver a five-day residential Prolonged Field Care Course at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria.
Built from more than four years of operational experience, the programme prepares healthcare professionals to care for critically injured casualties when evacuation is delayed, resources are restricted and clinical responsibility must be sustained for hours or days.
Every booking also helps make further humanitarian medical work possible, with all course profits directly supporting the WEM Fund’s continuing work in Ukraine.
When the evacuation plan stops being a certainty
Many emergency care systems are designed around rapid access to definitive treatment. A casualty is assessed, stabilised and transferred to the next level of care through an established pathway.
In conflict zones, disaster settings, remote locations and disrupted health systems, that pathway may be severely delayed or unavailable.
Weather can prevent transport. Roads and infrastructure may be damaged. Security conditions can change without warning. Communication may be unreliable and medical facilities may already be operating beyond capacity.
A clinician who expected to care for a casualty for 20 minutes may remain responsible for them for 20 hours.
Prolonged casualty care begins when the conventional timeline ends.
It requires the medical team to move beyond immediate lifesaving interventions and consider how care can be sustained. The casualty must be repeatedly assessed, deterioration identified, supplies managed and treatment priorities reconsidered as the situation evolves.
This combination of clinical care, logistics, leadership and human performance sits at the centre of the WEM Fund’s Prolonged Field Care Course.
Four years of operational learning
The WEM Fund’s work in Ukraine has evolved alongside the needs identified by the people and medical teams operating there.
The organisation’s current impact includes:
£4.6 million in support delivered to Ukraine
4,294 medical training days delivered
66 medical missions, trauma supply convoys and educational events
1,703 medical professionals trained in Ukraine
Behind those figures are thousands of clinical decisions, practical adaptations and lessons about how medical systems respond when placed under sustained pressure.
The WEM Fund’s work in Ukraine has combined targeted equipment delivery with education and clinical support. This approach helps ensure supplies are accompanied by the knowledge and local capability needed to use them effectively.
Faculty teaching on the UK course bring experience from trauma education and prolonged care in conflict and austere settings. Their knowledge informs the scenarios, discussions and practical challenges participants encounter throughout the five-day programme.
Turning operational experience into practical training
The course treats lessons from Ukraine with the seriousness they deserve, translating operational experience into structured training for healthcare professionals who may face delayed evacuation in other contexts.
Participants will explore how to:
Continue assessing and monitoring a casualty over an extended period
Recognise deterioration when diagnostic resources are limited
Prioritise interventions and manage finite equipment
Adapt treatment plans as clinical and environmental conditions change
Protect the casualty from exposure and secondary harm
Communicate effectively within a pressured team
Manage fatigue, uncertainty and competing priorities
Plan for evacuation when timing and transport remain unclear
The scenarios are relevant beyond conflict medicine.
Humanitarian disasters, remote expeditions, severe weather, damaged infrastructure and geographically isolated communities can all create situations in which a patient must be cared for beyond conventional emergency timelines.
The setting may change, but the central challenge remains the same: how do you continue delivering appropriate care when help is not arriving as quickly as expected?
A course built around sustained decision-making
The five-day residential format gives participants time to examine prolonged field care as a continuing process rather than a collection of isolated procedures.
Training combines focused teaching, practical workshops and scenario-driven learning. Participants must balance casualty needs with the resources, information and people available to them.
As scenarios develop, teams will need to communicate, reassess their priorities and consider the consequences of each decision over time.
Training takes place indoors and outdoors at Muncaster Castle in Cumbria, allowing participants to experience the environmental, logistical and human factors that influence prolonged casualty care.
Who should attend?
The Prolonged Field Care Course is designed for healthcare professionals, humanitarian medics and those involved in remote or austere care.
It will be particularly relevant to:
Pre-hospital and emergency care professionals
Paramedics and nurses
Healthcare professionals preparing for humanitarian work
Expedition and wilderness medicine practitioners
Clinicians supporting remote operations
Medical professionals interested in disaster or conflict response
Participants do not need to be elite athletes, although a good level of general fitness will help them manage the practical and outdoor elements of the programme.
Every booking supports further humanitarian work
The course has been designed to create a direct connection between professional education in the UK and continuing frontline medical support.
All profits are returned to the WEM Fund’s humanitarian programmes, supporting trauma education, medical equipment and operational assistance in Ukraine.
By joining the course, participants are developing their own ability to care for casualties in remote and unpredictable environments. At the same time, their course fee helps medical professionals in Ukraine access the equipment and training needed to continue their work.
Operational experience informs the education. The education helps fund further operations. Lessons continue to move between the people delivering care, the faculty teaching the course and the participants preparing for future deployments.
Course details
Location: Muncaster Castle, Cumbria, UK
Dates: 28th September – 2nd October 2026
Format: Five-day residential programme
Course fee: £1,495
Included: Prolonged field care tuition, practical workshops, realistic scenarios, accommodation, meals and a certificate of attendance
The circumstances that create prolonged casualty care are rarely predictable. Preparation, however, can begin long before the evacuation is delayed.
This course offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to learn from four years of frontline experience while directly supporting the medical teams continuing to operate in Ukraine.
How You Can Help
→ Learn more and book the WEM Fund Prolonged Field Care Course.
WEMF operates as a restricted fund under Humanitas (UK Registered Charity Number 1114639), Gift Aid claims are managed by Humanitas.