BlueSkies Experts
The following profiles are those of BlueSkies Experts - the people who we are privileged to have support and advise us.
Tony Bennison Philip Newton Dr. John Searle
Profiles of other BlueSkies Experts will be added soon so please check back!
For more information about Sam Jones and Ben Jones, BlueSkies founders and directors, click here.
Tony Bennison
Tony Bennison trained as a Combat Medical Technician with the British Army in 1987, serving in various theatres and on attachments to civilian A&E departments and the London Ambulance Service. In 1997, Tony set up ABC First Aid with the vision of teaching First Aid skills which can be used in the real world and he is still the Managing Director of ABC. Tony has now gained a reputation for delivering realistic, pragmatic emergency care training designed to meet the needs of today's sport and healthcare professionals. However, at the same time, Tony's training is always centred upon sound, evidence-based procedures.
Tony's skills and knowledge are recognised and used by many organisations. These include Middlesex Univeristy where he lectures Resuscitation and Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham where he is a visiting lecturer on the M.Sc. Sports Medicine course. Additionally, Tony oversees the first aid training for the B.Sc. students at the universities of Hertfordshire, Huddersfield, Edgehill and Chichester amongst others. The ACPSM, BASEM, the EIS and BasRat have also benefitted from Tony's First Aid and Resuscitation training.
Now an ex-rugby player, Tony holds coaching qualifications in Rugby Union, Rugby League, Fitness and Weight Training. His unique background which mixes sport and emergency medicine makes Tony a true expert in his field and BlueSkies believe that Tony's skills and knowledge of First Aid and Resuscitation are unparalleled.
BlueSkies are privileged to have Tony as one of our experts and to have ABC First Aid accrediting our First Aid courses.
Philip Newton (M.C.S.P., S.R.P)
Philip Newton is a Chartered Physiotherapist who has over 20 years of elite level sports medicine experience. The bulk of this experience has been at the Lilleshall National Sports Centre where Philip helped to set up the Sports Injury Rehab service in 1986.
Philip initially worked for the Football Association (FA) & still works closely with the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) providing residential sports-injury rehabilitation services for it's members.
During his 20 years in elite sport, the majority of Philip's work has been with contact sports such as football & rugby. However, he has also worked closley with a wide range of athletes from sports such as track & field, equestrian, gymnastics, tennis & squash.
In addition to his work at Lilleshall, Philip has travelled extensively during the past 10 years, providing physiotherapy support to the elite playing group of England Squash. This has included work at Individual & Team World Championships and as Team Physiotherapist at the Manchester & Melbourne Commonwealth games.
Philip has written for many reknowned publications and is often consulted by various bodies as an expert in the field of sports injuries and rehabilitation.
Philip Newton is one of BlueSkies sports physiotherapy, injury and rehabilitation experts. BlueSkies members can access his knowledge and opinion through the members forum.
Dr. John Searle
For 25 years, John was a consultant anaesthetist in Exeter spending some time as Director of the Intensive Care Unit. However, at the tender age of 56, John had to take early retirement because of progressive rheumatoid arthritis which made it impossible to sustain the long, demaning hours.
Researching the medical literature about his condition, John found that - contrary to medical teaching at the time - progressive cardiovascular and resistance training would greatly benefit him. So, John found himself a personal trainer (PT) and started training 4 times a week at the same time as taking the appropriate medication - within 3 months he was symptom free!
At this point, John decided that he should use his new found enthusiasm for fitness and become a PT himself. He signed up with Lifetime Health & Fitness in Bristol and completed his Level 3 qualifications before going on to study sports conditioning, nutrition, cicruit training and exercise referral (a module that is particularly close to his heart).
10 years ago, John would never have believed he would be a PT but he now works with a flourishing personal training company in Exeter. John's main interest is in training people with a range of chronic diseases so that they can be fit, active and live life to the full. John also works as a consultant to a number of PTs and a major fitness journal.
John's philosophy is 'carpe diem' - seize the day - and he firmly believes that every day is a gift to be used to the full as we do not know how many of them we have got! From his own experience, John knows that exercise is beyond doubt the key factor in maintaining health and he looks forward to the time when the medical profession and the Government take that seriously and put the necessary money on the table to make it happen!
Dr. John Searle is one of BlueSkies medical experts and BlueSkies members can access John's knowledge and opinion through the members forum.