Our Mission
To empower a safe outdoor community through access to innovative and sustainable education.
Base Medical offers training solutions to eliminate the access barriers in wilderness medicine and search and rescue (SAR) education. With our training solutions, wilderness medicine and SAR education is now accessible, affordable, and sustainable for rescue teams, outdoor organizations, and outdoor professionals worldwide.
We are a woman-led organization dedicated to the safety of the outdoor community. Base Medical has offered online, hybrid, and remote learning options since 2017. The learning methods on which the company was founded was in anticipation of the inevitable progression of wilderness medicine and rescue education to more advanced delivery systems and the inherent responsibility. Along our journey we have gained valuable experience and insight that is now shaping the future of the field as we blaze a new trail forward.
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A Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) is a corporation created to generate social good in a responsible and sustainable manner. We felt this business designation most aligned with our values and commitment to the outdoor community.
PBCs have to declare their public benefit purpose in their articles of incorporation. We took this one step further and included a stop-gate mechanism to maintain our company's alignment with our values. Imagine Base Medical 100 years from now. The goal is for Base Medical to do good now and in the future, no matter who is running it, who the investors are, or what happens within the field. The following is directly from our articles of incorporation:
“The Corporation is established as a Public Benefit Corporation with the objective to provide affordable, sustainable, and equitable education and professional development access to increase the safety, preparedness, and emergency response of the outdoor community. At least once per year, the Corporation shall use the following guiding inquisitions to remain in alignment with its public benefit objective:
The Triple Win: Are our programs and education opportunities structured and priced in a way that benefits the community, our clients, and our company?
Downstream Effects: How do our programs positively and negatively impact the community and the professionalism of the industry now and in the future? Are there certain demographic groups more positively or negatively impacted than others?
The Innovation Triangle: Do we have a healthy organizational culture, good retention of team members, clients and students, and supportive systems and processes to serve as the foundation on which we can scale and continue to innovate? “
Our Team
Teal Harbin
she/her
Base Medical Chief Executive Officer & Founder, Wilderness paramedic and nurse with a B.S. in EMS and Certified in Mountain Medicine
Teal is a driven, future-focused woman striving to do the most good for the outdoor community and beyond. Born and raised in the southwest USA, she draws upon her Mexican/Puerto Rican/European roots to promote diversity, equity, and opportunity for all. She is an agent of change.
Teal is an experienced medical provider and international social entrepreneur. Her medical background includes ski patrol, mountain rescue, search and rescue, firefighting, pediatric emergency medicine, remote medicine, international telemedicine, and international medicine. She has instructed remote medicine and coordinated medical evacuations worldwide from austere locations. This experience served her well when she stepped in as the EMS Logistics Solutions Officer to improve medical care for the Afghan refugees at the Oman Amid Village at Holloman Air Force Base for Operations Allies Welcome. While living in Germany and traveling the world, Teal founded Base Medical in 2017 in Tallinn, Estonia with the mission to elevate the quality and access to wilderness medicine and rescue education. In addition to serving as the visionary of Base Medical, she is currently an item writer for the international wilderness paramedic exam with the IBSC and serves as the SAR Medical Coordinator for the state of New Mexico.
IG: @teal.harbin
“The tools and tactics we use to achieve our mission differ than those used by others in the industry. We must dare to be different to create the much needed change to empower you and others to build a safer community.”
Listen to Teal speak about the early days of Base Medical in Estonia, the barriers to accessing wilderness medicine and SAR opportunities, and what it means to lead forward change. ————->
Tim Durkin
he/him
Base Medical Chief Medical Director, DO, FAAEM, CAQSM, Author, Emergency & Sports Medicine Physician
Dr. Durkin is a board-certified emergency and sports medicine physician and is Base Medical’s Chief Medical Officer. He has over two decades of response, patient care, and teaching experience that drive his passion for excellence in Base Medical’s curriculum.
His premedical experiences included service as a camp staffer, SAR responder, urban/rural paramedic, BLS/ACLS/first aid instructor, and working on a program management team for DARPA. He completed a residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center, the busiest trauma center in Philadelphia, and a sports medicine fellowship at the University of Florida (Go Gators!). Since residency, he has practiced emergency medicine at both large and small hospitals in the southwest and has been extensively involved with EMS, SAR, and sports medicine coverage. He currently serves as an active responder with La Plata and San Juan County (CO) Search & Rescue, a medical advisor to the San Juan National Forest, and an instructor for the Colorado Highland Helicopters SAR program. He is the author of The Pocket Guide to Event, Outdoor, and Sports Medicine. When not working, he enjoys backcountry skiing and trying to keep up with his wife while mountain biking.
IG: @colorado_rescue_doc
Travis Young
Base Medical Training Director
Dave Mikhail Cristoria is our Executive Assistant, based in Bacolod City, Philippines. He has an extensive history of assisting as a customer service representative and as a virtual assistant.
Dave started his journey as a customer service representative way back in 2012, juggling his school and work schedules. This did not stop him from achieving his goals and passion. Dave was born in a province in the Philippines. He is the eldest of the two siblings. At an early age, he had seen the struggle of living a life with limited resources. Equipped with these experiences, he managed to strive harder, which brought him to where he is now.
11 years in the industry, he has been immersed in many work positions, such as being a telephone banker for J.P. Morgan Chase, a back office analyst, and a dispute resolution analyst for GreenDot Bank. He also became a team leader with a 15-20 headcount, handling multiple lines of business. Today, Dave is committed to providing excellent service as Base Medical’s course Admin/Executive Assistant. He has a vital role in handling email inquiries, video editing, social media handling, and other internal tasks. Outside of work hours, Dave enjoys doing outdoor activities such as hiking, taking photos of nature, and most of the time playing online games.
IG: @crazydaveph
Travis is a people oriented, community building individual who has been tasked with the responsibility to support our instructors in the field. He has extensive experience working in remote and austere environments as a paramedic and over a decade of teaching wilderness medicine for Remote Medical International and Base Medical.
Travis is a dedicated dad, avid sailor, aid climber, and alpinist. He is most comfortable in a pair of approach shoes, but can still rock the Birkenstocks on the floor of the ED. Travis is as dependable as they come. He is always just a phone call away and will deliver his absolute best for his team.
trainingdirector@base-medical.com
Dave Cristoria
Base Medical Course Admin/Executive Assistant
Base Medical Certified Instructors
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Lauren has been a professional guide since 2013, leading groups of diverse backgrounds to destinations such as Yosemite, Mount Rainier National Park, New England, the North Cascades, and Mount Kilimanjaro. An extremely capable leader, Lauren has worked several years at the director level in the travel industry, training and managing guide teams and overseeing brand growth from a local to national level. She is currently the Director of Strategic Planning and a senior guide with Good Trip Adventures. Outside of work, Lauren sits on the board as secretary of the United States Australian Football League, volunteers as an EMT with Pacific Northwest Search and Rescue, and is a mom.
Portland, OR - Good Trip Adventures
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I am a 24 year Military and 7 year National Park Ranger veteran, Alpine Climbing, Whitewater, Fly Fishing and Mountain Biking Guide and Instructor. I have serve with Tacoma Mountain Rescue and National Park Search and Rescue. I live to be outside. I don't want a lifetime experience of one peak, I want a lifetime of climbing experience.
Tacoma, WA- The Mountaineers
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Creative Director by day, mountaineer, rock climber, skier, backpacker, and Wilderness First Aid Instructor by night (my nights are quite full).
Portland, OR - The Mazamas
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A New Jersey native, Will spent his summers backpacking at camp in Colorado and fishing at his grandparent's in Western North Carolina. His time spent in the outdoors instilled a growing passion for environmental conservation. After playing lacrosse and earning a BA in Political Science at Kean University, he followed his love for the outdoors into teaching outdoor education. He has led outdoor education trips for Sanborn Camps in CO, Wilderness Adventures in HI, WY, MT, Naturalist at Large in CA, and the Outdoor Academy in NC. After graduating from a fly fishing guide school at Cutthroat Angler in Silverthorne, CO, he went to work for Crested Butte Angler. While exploring the small mountain streams and lakes during his time off, he decided to turn his passion for the outdoors into a career. He returned to school at NYU for his graduate degree in Environmental Conservation Education. During his time at NYU he worked at the Orvis 5th Avenue store in the fishing department, where he taught fly fishing 101 and fly tying 101. He also volunteered for Trout Unlimited, teaching and developing lesson plans for their youth education program, "Trout in the Classroom." His passion for fly fishing, conservation, and teaching inspired him to create Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions as his Master's thesis. His goal is to encourage appreciation for nature through participation in backpacking and fly fishing while inspiring future generations of sporting conservationists. When he's not working, he enjoys adventures with his wife Kim and three kids, River, Bailey, and Blake. He is a Wilderness First Responder, Registered Maine Guide, Montana Outfitter, and Colorado Outfitter.
Egremont, MA - Lillard Fly Fishing
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I'm a dad of twin girls who love being outside. We rip on Mt Bikes, hike and spend a lot of time with a fishing rod over the side of our canoes when we're camping. We've been known to tackle some medium sport or trad routes and I like whisky and IPA....Especially when I get to meet the brewer. I pay my mortgage by working at the fire department and I'm a retired Air Force guy with 4 combat deployments under my belt.
Portland, OR - The Mazamas
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I was introduced to the world of climbing and mountaineering in 2016 by the Mazamas in Portland, OR. Since then, I have climbed many of the peaks of the Pacific Northwest, become a Wilderness First Responder (WFR), and taught wilderness first aid and climbing skills to new mountaineers. Professionally, I am an engineer and teacher and I am passionate about sharing the skills for safe and ethical wilderness recreation with other.
Portland, OR - The Mazamas
And many more!
We have 60 instructors located throughout the country. Our instructors work independently from Base Medical to deliver accessible, affordable, high-quality wilderness medicine training to the outdoor community. Join our mission!