About

The initial concept was of an Institute which promoted the healthcare of international remote communities and concentrating on the oil and gas industry and on pre-hospital emergency services thus reflecting the basic interests and expertise of the founding members Nelson Norman and Alan Kennedy-Bolam. The IRHC concept was developed from the past experience of such institutions in the Aberdeen Universities and the UK Ambulance Service NHS Trusts.

The principles of remote healthcare were originally devised by both Universities in Aberdeen for the the North Sea oil and gas industry and subsequently the very different population of the British Antarctic Survey and certain groups in the Middle East. The main tenets of the system encompass a series of priorities which in order of importance are:

1. Training of the population at risk in immediate care.
2. Development of increasingly sophisticated communications.
3. Presence of a co-ordinating group of medical practitioners.
4. An efficient system of evacuation from a remote site.
5. Continuing audit and research.