Baja Del Sur, Mexico: International Remote Filming Medical Response and Accident Prevention
Wounded Bear Medicine provides safety oversight of cast and crew for landing on an island beach in Baja Del Sur, Mexico.
Wounded Bear Medicine was asked to provide safety oversight and response for a six week production of Survivalist in Baja California Sur Mexico. Like previous seasons of the show, the production took place in remote backcountry settings with limited access to roads and evacuation. This was the first season to be filmed outside the United States, adding to the complexity of what was needed to be considered and planned for. Our team was able to determine the known medical risks associated with the desert and marine environment we traveled through. Many of the risks associated with the Baja desert were similar to other arid locations and included dehydration, heat illness, envenomations, and trauma from the rugged landscape. Additionally our team consulted with our medical advisors to prepare our kits with medications and specialized equipment needed for international productions.
Risk Management
Our team arrived prior to shooting to scout the course locations and routes, working with the executive producers, field producers and DP to weigh the risks to the cast and crew. These involved mandatory fresh water swims, Ocean kayaking and motorized boat travel, off trail overland hiking, travel by razors on rough roads, managing exposed heights and rockfall, waterfall jumping, mountain biking, snorkeling with large marine animals, travel in areas with known venomous snakes, insects, and marine animals, and horseback riding. In addition to these risks the high heat combined with high levels of exertion by the cast and crew members was planned for in depth. Evacuation routes and extrication to local and US hospitals was planned out including contingencies for language translation.
Embedded Safety Team
As the remainder of the safety team arrived we were able to begin planning out the best strategies for specific locations. Because of the race elements to this specific production, the Wounded Bear team all had to be able to run, hike and scramble with all their equipment on their back for extended distances and time periods. The ability and equipment to emergency bivy with injured cast or crew members was needed due to the locations and lack of evacuation options in many of the field locations. Our team was tasked with doing baseline medical assessment on cast members as they arrived, familiarizing them with the provided backcountry equipment and providing them with an in-depth safety brief on the risks they would face during their race.
In addition to the cast, our team briefed the crew at the beginning of each course and then throughout as we traveled with them. One of the primary objectives for our team was to keep the crew as healthy as possible so they would not be forced to leave early due to a sudden or slow-forming injury. This included tending to many blisters, cuts, scrapes, embedded cactus spines, 2nd degree burns, overuse injuries, heat exhaustion, and sprains and strains. Our crew also tended to incidents that happened to crew during off days between courses.
Safety team member pulls one of many deeply embedded cactus spines from the hand of a camera operator in the field.
Safety Coordination with Filming Production
As we followed behind the cast on their race we provided field care for injuries and illness, helped to monitor nutrition and hydration, and assessed for heat illness. Additionally we helped ensure the cast was up and ready each morning before the camera operators, sound and field producers arrived. Because the entire production was camping, our team established our camp between the crew camp and the cast camps. This ensured that we were available overnight for medical needs that arose.
Along with the field duties, our team worked with the line producer to ensure the needed equipment was ready and available on site and at the start of each race course. We helped to communicate the needs of exfiltration planning out of the country and coordination with in-country emergency services when available.
Our team's experience in Baja was overwhelmingly positive, with minimal injuries given the rugged and high risk terrain that a large number of people were traveling through on a consistent basis. While international productions do provide unique challenges we were able to overcome them and it was rewarding to assist the production company in a successful production in a truly spectacular field location.
The Wounded Bear Crew: Chase, Ben, Anthony, KC, and Molly after a successful week of overseeing safety for cast and crew in the field.
