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Recognising Exceptional Contribution to Tactical Medicine
The Honorary Membership of the British and Irish Tactical Medical Association (BRITMA) represents the highest level of professional recognition that the Association can bestow. It is a mark of distinction reserved for those who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of Tactical Medicine — whether through operational excellence, clinical leadership, research, education, or strategic influence.
Honorary Members Embody BRITMA's Values
Honorary Members embody the values and mission of BRITMA. Their work has shaped and inspired the profession, strengthened the link between medicine and operations, and advanced the standard of care across both military and civilian tactical environments.
Dr Mark ForrestHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Consultant in Anaesthetics, Critical Care & HEMS AboutDr Mark Forrest is a UK consultant in anaesthetics, critical care and HEMS, with over 30 years of pre-hospital experience. As the Medical Director of The ATACC Group, he is the lead author of their courses and educational materials and oversees the TECC and Civilian Tactical Medicine programmes. Mark was a member of the UK Special Forces Trauma Faculty for over 15 years and has considerable experience in retrieval, diving, and hyperbaric medicine. He sits on the Police National Medical Advisory Group and, as Medical Director to numerous UK police forces, provides clinical governance and writes courses for D13 and D13-2, public order, and counter-terrorism exercises. Dr Forrest was the first appointed UK Fire and Rescue Medical Director over 18 years ago, training firefighters while maintaining an operational role. He has lectured internationally on tactical medicine and delivered many unique large-scale tactical exercises and highly realistic simulations. Major General (retd) Professor Tim HodgettsHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 A consultant and Professor of Emergency Medicine, AboutA consultant and Professor of Emergency Medicine, Tim led the revolution in combat casualty care in UK Defence during the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns that introduced new concepts, equipment, training, guidelines and governance to transform outcomes of the seriously injured. As the first Army consultant in EM, he established and led the specialty from infancy to maturity, deploying regularly as a consultant emergency medicine and helicopter doctor (Kosovo, Oman, Iraq x4, Afghanistan x3). Tim authored the original MIMMS manual and course; Battlefield Casualty Drills; BATLS (2005); Pre-hospital Paediatric Life Support; and Firefighter Life Support. He co-founded the citizenAID charity to enhance public resilience to deliberate attack and invented the Tourni-Key, gifting the patent to the charity. Tim has relied on his grounding in tactical medicine experience throughout his career, culminating as Surgeon General of the UK Armed Forces, Master General Medical, and the elected senior medical adviser to NATO. | 
Dave “DC” ConnellHonorary Member - Conferred 2026 Former Warrant Officer Class 1 Combat Medical Technician AboutDave “DC” Connell is a highly respected former Warrant Officer Class 1 Combat Medical Technician, with a distinguished career in tactical and operational medicine. He served five years as Chief Medical Instructor with the UK Special Forces Group Medical Support Unit, collaborating closely with United States Special Forces units on Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) and playing a key role in introducing TCCC concepts into UK Special Forces practice. Following his military retirement, Dave co-founded Exmed UK and has remained at the forefront of tactical pre-hospital care in non-permissive and austere environments worldwide. He specialises in Tactical Combat Casualty Care and wilderness pre-hospital medicine, with a particular focus on human performance under extreme stress. Since 1995, Dave has trained Specialist Police Officers across the UK, delivering advanced trauma care education and enhancing the capability of non-medical personnel to manage life-threatening injuries in high-risk situations. His expertise is underpinned by extensive global operational experience, having operated in 48% of the world’s countries, including high-threat environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and more recently Israel, where he continues to apply tactical medical principles to protect personnel operating in hostile regions. Professor Sir Keith PorterHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Consultant Trauma Surgeon and Professor of Clinical Traumatology AboutProfessor Sir Keith Porter was educated at Marlborough College and St Thomas’s Hospital, London. He was appointed Consultant Trauma Surgeon at Birmingham Accident Hospital in 1986, a service that is now delivered at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, where he was the Clinical Director of the Major Trauma Centre from 2010–2018 and Professor of Clinical Traumatology until February 2023. He was the clinical lead for injured soldiers returning to the UK during both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Professor Porter has been a leader in the development of the medical subspecialty of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine. In recent years he has served as Chairman of the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care and also the Intercollegiate Board for Training in Emergency Medicine. He was co-founder and Honorary Secretary of the education charity Trauma Care and until recently the co-editor of the journal “Trauma”. He is actively involved in the charity citizenAID, which empowers the general public to deliver simple life-saving skills in the event of a terrorist attack. Professor Porter has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has co-authored and edited numerous books. For his services to the military he was knighted in the 2010 Queen’s New Year’s Honours list. |
Ben HeronHonorary Member - Conferred 2026 Advanced Paramedic Supervisor | TEMS Medic Supervisor | Assistant Professor AboutBen Heron is recently retired from the Irish National Ambulance Service (NAS), where he worked as an Advanced Paramedic Supervisor. He was an active member of their Incident Response Team and served as a TEMS Medic Supervisor. Prior to joining the NAS, he served in the Defence Forces for twenty three years, the majority of which was spent as a Helicopter SAR crewman and instructor. He is an Assistant Professor with the Centre for Emergency Medical Science, University College Dublin (UCD), where he has been involved in training both civilian and military medics. He is currently involved in the UCD/Ukraine Trauma Project, which provides specialist medical training to combat and civilian medics in Ukraine. An active TECC instructor, he is involved in training Garda, civilian and military tactical medics. He is also a senior trainer with the Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Training Institute, Ireland, which provides training for remote and austere environment medics. | 
Surgeon Commander Paul ReesHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Tactical & Operational Medicine Leader AboutSurg Cdr Paul Rees is a senior leader in Tactical and Operational Medicine, recognised for excellence across operational, clinical, and strategic domains. He has delivered advanced medical capability in some of the most complex and high-risk environments worldwide. As a Submarine Medical Officer with the 1st Submarine Squadron, he provided autonomous medical support during prolonged, covert patrols. He later served as Resuscitation Officer with the Commando Forward Surgical Group, deploying on airborne close-support operations and delivering damage control resuscitation and surgery during kinetic commando missions, often extending prolonged field care capabilities in remote settings. As a Consultant with the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), he led advanced battlefield resuscitation and tactical aeromedical evacuation of complex polytrauma casualties. His operational experience also includes Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief missions, including the Ebola crisis and major hurricane responses. Beyond deployment, Dr Rees has shaped tactical medical education and governance, designing evidence-informed training programmes and advancing clinical frameworks that strengthen interoperability, accountability, and standards of care under threat, with influence extending nationally and internationally. |
Dr Kate PriorHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Details to be announced AboutBiography to be added soon. | Dr Ross MoyHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Consultant in Emergency and Pre-Hospital Medicine AboutDr Ross Moy Ross is a consultant in Emergency and Pre-Hospital Medicine. He trained in Dundee, and joined the British Army in 2001. After initial medical training in Dundee, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps. After initial training, he served as Regimental Medical Officer for the Queen’s Royal Lancers. Following this he completed specialist training and became a consultant in 2016. He has completed 6 overseas deployments. This included 2 tours as MO on the Medical Emergency Response Team, delivering critical care to the point of wounding. From 2022 to 2025 he was British Army's Consultant Advisor in Pre-Hospital Emergency Care. He was clinical advisor for the Army’s implementation of Tactical Combat Casualty Care. In 2025 he was awarded the Agricola Medal for services to military Emergency Medicine and in 2026 he was appointed to be an Officer in the Order of Saint John, for excellence in military medicine. In 2026 he retired from Regular Service, moving to the Army Reserve. He works clinically as an EM consultant in The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. He also flies with the Emergency Medical Retrieval Service, delivering HEMS and critical care retrieval to remote and rural areas of Scotland. His interests include austere and remote medicine, human factors, decision making and ethics. |
PDHonorary Member – Conferred 2026 Former military paramedic AboutPD PD is a former military paramedic who served for 24 years before transitioning to the civilian sector in 2024. He began his career in the Parachute Regiment, completing multiple operational deployments, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. During this time, he developed a deep appreciation for the critical importance of close medical support in combat operations. Motivated by this experience, he retrained as a Combat Medical Technician (CMT) and subsequently qualified as a paramedic. Throughout his career, he has provided specialist medical support across the full spectrum of military operations and conflict environments. He later specialised in CBRN medical operations, an area in which he continues to maintain a strong professional interest. PD’s expertise extends beyond the provision of medical care in austere and high-threat environments. He served as Chief Medical Instructor within a defence organisation, where he was responsible for the governance, delivery, and quality assurance of a range of operational medical training programmes. He has significant experience in course design and implementation and is a current Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) instructor. |
A Limited and Prestigious Honour
Honorary Membership is strictly limited and conferred only by the BRITMA Executive Leadership. Selection is by invitation only, following careful consideration of an individual’s service, impact, and contribution at either a tactical or strategic level.
This exclusive recognition celebrates those who have:
An Enduring Association
Honorary Members hold a lifelong affiliation with BRITMA. Their expertise, experience, and insight continue to guide and inspire the community. They stand as role models for excellence — professionals whose dedication to Tactical Medicine has left a lasting legacy.
Nomination and Selection
Honorary Membership cannot be applied for. It is a discretionary award, considered by the Executive Leadership and endorsed by the Board, to honour individuals whose contribution exemplifies the very highest standards of professional service.
Honouring Those Who Serve Beyond Expectation
The Honorary Membership is more than a title — it is a symbol of respect, gratitude, and professional recognition from the Tactical Medical community across the United Kingdom and Ireland. BRITMA is proud to celebrate those whose work has shaped our profession and whose example continues to inspire the next generation of Tactical Medical practitioners.