Meet Our Staff

WMI Instructors are experts in wilderness medicine education. With extensive experience in backcountry travel and patient care, they are engaging educators who teach from experience.

Liam Downey

WMI Instructor Liam Downey teaches in what he calls a “very professorial style,” which I take to mean as clear, eloquent and well studied. Most college professor would confirm these as the attributes of the seasoned educator, and Downey’s reputation and passion for wilderness medicine certainly align with them. Based on his history of working in critical environments, however, Downey may have been implying that he values the ability to prophecy and adapt to future, unseen events. From whitewater rapids and archeological sites to backcountry expeditions, Downey anticipates potential challenges to prepare for whatever might come his way.

Like many instructors before him, Downey wanted to teach a WMI course after participating in a WMI course. He was so “impressed by the realism of the scenarios” and the creative curriculum of his 2003 WFR that he decided to supplement a background in EMT with wilderness medicine.

Medicine keeps Downey busy, but it’s one of many interests. The Chicago native, who once broadcasted a syndicated radio blues show in Los Angeles, accepted a six-week stint with the Bureau of Land Management in Bluff, Utah. The six weeks came and went, but Downey stayed in Bluff to work as a commercial whitewater river guide and a cultural preservation program contractor, “monitoring and mitigating damage to archeological resources,” of which southeast Utah has the highest density in the United States at 200,000.

Perhaps it is a history of meticulously combing through artifacts that influences Downey’s teaching style. “The best medical caregivers,” he says, “ask ‘why’ and not just ‘what.’” He loves to see his students “click into something” because they “want to go deeper” with the material, which boosts his own expertise and reaffirms his commitment to wilderness medicine. There’s little doubt that Downey’s teaching style will inspire students and prospective WMI instructors, whether or not he sees it coming.