Savannah (she/her) began her extensive career in wilderness medicine in 2006, building a foundation that spans nearly two decades of diverse prehospital and technical rescue experience. Operating as an EMT across multiple West Coast Search and Rescue (SAR) teams, she has seamlessly adapted her skills to a wide variety of roles, including managing industrial medical clinics, EMT-security operations, and high-volume 911 ambulance services. Most recently, Savannah has been providing critical care on Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances across the rugged, resource-limited environments of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Her deep clinical expertise is backed by advanced practice in IV therapy, phlebotomy, Prehospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS), supraglottic airway management, and extensive Incident Command System (ICS) training. Notably, her exceptional dedication to technical rescue earned her a special commendation from the California Office of Emergency Services. For her students, Savannah perfectly synthesizes high-level trauma management with complex, austere rescue operations, delivering master-class instruction forged in some of the West Coast's most demanding environments.
The Journey to Remote Medicine
My journey to remote medicine started when I first joined my local search and rescue (SAR) team. The SAR team was the perfect way to combine my love of the outdoors with community service. Throughout my SAR training I was introduced to the unique challenges of providing care in remote environments and really loved the challenge of it. I love remote medicine because no two situations are ever the same, and it requires you to constantly think of new solutions to problems.
Specialized Industries
Rural Ambulance Operations & Community Medicine
Wilderness and Urban SAR - FEMA and NASAR
Local Disaster Response
Industrial Clinic
Hospital Triage
My outdoor activities are generally centered around hiking and backpacking in the beautiful PNW. I have recently been introduced to whitewater kayaking, and that may become a new regular activity! At home I enjoy a lot of “grandma hobbies” such as gardening, sewing, knitting, and baking. Fun facts: I teach swing dancing classes and am a recent cancer survivor!
Teaching Philosopy
My teaching philosophy is based on the idea that medicine doesn’t have to be complicated. I want my students to gain both knowledge and confidence from my classes. I do my best to meet the students where they are at, and build off the knowledge and experience that they already have. I strive to make learning fun and memorable, while also relatable to students of all types of different backgrounds.
Why I Choose to Teach
I teach because I really enjoy sharing my love of medicine with others, but on a deeper level, I really think that everybody should have a basic understanding of first aid. Basic medical knowledge should be common knowledge so that people can properly care for themselves and their community. As an EMT on an ambulance, I can only help one person at a time, but if I can teach others to properly help people, it helps build a stronger and safer community overall.
Professional Certifications & Licensures
ESCI CPR Instructor
NREMT
Most Memorable Field Experience
One of my most memorable field experiences happened just two weeks after I had finished my initial EMT course. I was 18 years old and leading a search and rescue team in the Mendocino National Forest (Northern California). We had been bushwacking all day looking for a missing mushroom picker. Naturally, it had just started raining and was getting dark. As we were nearing our turnaround point, one of my teammates fell while trying to traverse a fallen tree, completely shattering her ankle in the process.
Due to the extremely dense tree cover and terrible weather we were unable to get a helicopter for evacuation. I was in charge of her medical care for the first several hours, until we were able to find a local paramedic to hike into us. I was taught how to spike an IV bag there in the middle of the woods and found a treebranch to hang it on until we were ready to package her. Other SAR members brought us the litter and helped set up a rope system to get us all out of there. The whole ordeal lasted many, many hours, but we were eventually able to get her to an awaiting ambulance at a trailhead.
My teammate made a full recovery and continued in SAR. The missing person was located early the next day, cold and hungry, but otherwise ok.
