A CUMBRIAN doctor has flown out to the Philippines to help victims of devastating Typhoon Haiyan.

Dr Sean Hudson, a GP in the west of the county, left the UK for the Filippino islands as part of an emergency medical response team following the storm which has left more than 3,500 people dead and thousands more missing.

Dr Hudson has extensive experience providing medical cover on expeditions in 21 different countries.

He was the first person in the UK to become a Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine and has trekked across the Darien Gap and the Thar Desert.

He has worked as a trekking guide and Chief Medic for Raleigh International in Namibia and Zimbabwe, a trauma medic in Columbia and a ski field doctor in New Zealand.

In 2002 the Maryport GP, who is a member of the Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group, co-founded Expedition and Wilderness Medicine, which seeks to provide comprehensive training for medical professionals working as expedition medical officers in a variety of extreme and remote environments.

He has travelled to the Philippines as part of the UK’s International Emergency Trauma Team and will be providing emergency medical care to those affected by the destructive typhoon.