Our Instructors
Our instructors come from diverse backgrounds. Their outdoor experience as mountain climbers, rescue personnel, sailors, dog sledders and paddlers is enhanced with substantial medical experience as Medics, Paramedics, Nurses or Physicians. Becoming an instructor with Wilderness Medical Associates International is a nice complement to professionals already working in remote industries or medical professions.
Damien Santer
Paramedic, ACLS, WFR
Dr Shaliza Manmohan
BMedSc, BHlthSc(Hons), MD.
Jeff Baierlein
MS, NREMT-B, WEMT
Phil Smith
WFR
David Johnson
MD, WALS, FACEP
Sia Shun Yi
AMO, ACLS, AMLS
Damien Santer
Paramedic, ACLS, WFR
Dip. ParamedicalSci
An avid outdoorsman, Damien is a District Training Advisor to the “Rest of World” district of The Scout Association and the Group Scout Leader of 2nd Kuala Lumpur.
He is a Wilderness First Responder with Wilderness Medical Associates, has qualifications in both technical rope rescue and white-water rescue (Rescue 3 International) and is currently pursuing a Diploma in Paramedicine.
Damien has been teaching professionally since 2003. Before moving to Asia in 2007, Damien spent several years with the NSW State Emergency Service in Australia, qualifying in General Rescue, Search & Rescue, Storm Damage, Flood Boat Operations, Road Crash Rescue and Vertical Rescue. Damien was a NSW State Rescue Board accredited operator and was a qualified trainer and assessor for the NSW SES.
Damien is the founder and director of X3SI, is an Instructor Trainer for the Emergency Care & Safety Institute (USA), endorsed by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and the American College of Emergency Physicians, an Instructor Trainer for AEMED International and serves on their curriculum advisory board.
Dr Shaliza Manmohan
BMedSc, BHlthSc(Hons), MD.
Dr Shaliza Manmohan is a graduate with 3 degrees- Bachelor of Biomedical Science, Bachelor of HealthScience(Hons) and Doctor of Medicine, MD from both an international (University of Adelaide, Australia) and local (Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine in collaboration with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) institute.
Her passion of learning science and medicine stems her interest in education. Having trained in Emergency Medicine in Borneo Malaysia, especially during the pandemic, she realized the low awareness of pre-hospital care amongst the community, especially in emergency situations. She aims and hope to improve the quality and create more awareness to prevent life threatening situations.
She believes that being a doctor isn’t just about saving lives, it’s also about educating- of which improves the lives of others.
Sia Shun Yi
AMO, ACLS, AMLS
An experience medic and instructor, Sia is qualified as an Assistant Medical Officer and Pre-Hospotal Advanved Care Responder.