Aug 12, 2026 · 1 hr 46 min · 13 segments
Dr Dan Pronk is a former Australian Army Special Forces combat doctor, author, entrepreneur, and leadership speaker. Dan originally pursued his goal of competing professionally in Trialathon before…
Dan PronkGuest
Blake O'ConnellHost
Talk to us about – this is not something a lot of people know things about, this concept of voodoo medic.
And I would love to see one of the patches as well because I've heard about the patches.
But, yeah, so, like, where did voodoo medicine come from, Dan? Like, is it – who was the, I guess, the pathfinders and the creators of this? So it was casualty care at the point of injury on the battlefield, in effect, wasn't it?
In the fallout of that, a team of US special operations medical elements led by a guy called Frank Butler, who I've had the opportunity to meet on multiple occasions and is a wonderful human being.
They analysed who died and then looked at what was preventable here and then looked at what tools or techniques might have prevented these deaths.
And that was sort of the genesis of a different approach to medicine in that tactical environment.
And so voodoo medicine was kind of the informal approach name, if you like, of Special Operations Medical Elements.
It was coined by a predecessor of mine, a combat medic by the name of John Walter.
I have the privilege now of working with Wal in TACMED, so he's part of TACMED, so this wonderful ability to stay connected to that former tribe.
But while – and he was decorated for his actions, won a thing called the Nursing Services Cross, which is the highest award that you could be given as a medical support element.
Talk to us about – this is not something a lot of people know things about, this concept of voodoo medic.
And I would love to see one of the patches as well because I've heard about the patches.
But, yeah, so, like, where did voodoo medicine come from, Dan? Like, is it – who was the, I guess, the pathfinders and the creators of this? So it was casualty care at the point of injury on the battlefield, in effect, wasn't it?
In the fallout of that, a team of US special operations medical elements led by a guy called Frank Butler, who I've had the opportunity to meet on multiple occasions and is a wonderful human being.
They analysed who died and then looked at what was preventable here and then looked at what tools or techniques might have prevented these deaths.
And that was sort of the genesis of a different approach to medicine in that tactical environment.
And so voodoo medicine was kind of the informal approach name, if you like, of Special Operations Medical Elements.
It was coined by a predecessor of mine, a combat medic by the name of John Walter.
I have the privilege now of working with Wal in TACMED, so he's part of TACMED, so this wonderful ability to stay connected to that former tribe.
But while – and he was decorated for his actions, won a thing called the Nursing Services Cross, which is the highest award that you could be given as a medical support element.
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