Peter “Pete” Killcommons is the founder and CEO of Medweb, a medical software and device company in San Francisco, California. An active participant in charity activities, he has traveled worldwide to represent his causes. In his spare time, Peter Killcommons likes to sail or go scuba-diving.
Going scuba-diving for the first time might be anxiety-inducing. The ocean is a vast, daunting space, and scuba-diving entails exploring its depths and interacting with its environments. But with a good guide, it is one of the easiest recreational activities to learn since it involves only three basic skills: breathing, kicking, and floating.
You’ll need several different pieces of equipment, without which it is impossible to scuba-dive. These include things like a compass, buoyancy device, or breathing apparatus. You need to make sure you have them all and check them carefully for faults before going scuba diving to prevent accidents underwater.
Being under the ocean can be an overwhelming experience; the vast blueness can make it feel like being lost in space. Also, all the physical exertions can prove too much to process for a first-timer. But don’t panic; stay calm. Your instructor is there to guide you. You need to trust their expertise and follow their suggestions, as they are there both to keep you safe and help you get the best out of the experience.
Scuba diving is an exacting activity, which means you need to hydrate. Therefore, drinking as much water as possible before and after each dive is important.
Peter “Pete” Killcommons has practiced medicine for about three decades. He currently serves as the CEO of MedWeb, a company that develops medical software and devices. Peter Killcommons also volunteers as a disaster relief pilot, flying to different parts of the world.
A relief flight refers to a humanitarian effort involving flying to and rescuing people from the point of disaster and providing the necessary materials like medicine, clothing, water, and food to survive such catastrophes. However, in coordinating a disaster relief flight, there are specific best practices that pilots should observe.
At least two pilots must operate every relief flight. Working with two pilots reduces the workload that a single pilot would have had to bear.
Similarly, only experienced pilots should be allowed to fly disaster relief planes. This is important because most disaster relief planes are usually subject to adverse conditions, which means that the pilot must be able to navigate some of the most difficult flying conditions effortlessly.
The plane ought to have enough fuel to execute its mission successfully. Most disaster areas often have fuel shortages; therefore, it is very unlikely for the plane to refuel when it runs out of fuel.
Just as adequate provision must be made for fuel shortages, there must be sufficient provision for aircraft spare parts. The plane must contain every necessary resource used to make repairs in instances of damage.
A graduate of the New York Medical College, Peter Killcommons is the chief executive officer of Medweb. He dedicated his career to developing medical technologies to help people in underserved areas receive medical treatment. At Medweb, “Pete” Peter Killcommons provides clients with telehealth technologies.
Telehealth benefited from much exposure during the Covid19 pandemic, garnering investments from multiple companies. According to statistics, telehealth was used 78 times more in April 2020 than in February 2020, and although April was the peak, telehealth stabilized at 38 times more usage in 2021 than in February 2020. This mostly happened because hospitals and healthcare facilities tried to find safe solutions to diagnose and treat people without contracting the virus.
With increased usage, companies made investments of up to three times more capital in telehealth in 2020 than in 2017. Countries such as China invested in many apps and technologies to enable people receive diagnosis without coming to a facility for a physical assessment of their symptoms.
Dr. Peter Killcommons is a San-Francisco-based philanthropist and entrepreneur. In 1992, he founded Medweb, an industry-leading company providing web-enabled telemedicine services. Pete Killcommons MD maintains affiliations with the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) to complement his professional activities.
Established in 1993, the American Telemedicine Association is a non-profit organization that seeks to advance the industry of telemedicine through advocacy, partnerships, community, and the provision of educational resources. As part of its objectives to provide education and community, the ATA hosts an annual conference & exposition.
The 25th edition of the ATA Annual Conference & Expo, like its predecessors, gathered telehealth providers, tech developers, and other telehealth-related professionals for a healthy discussion on the current trends and the possible future of the telehealth industry. The theme of the ATA 2021 conference, Telehealth: Enabling Flexible, Inclusive, and Contemporary Care Delivery, encouraged the participants to build upon industry lessons learned so far and target significant and persistent challenges within the industry. The program featured over 150 speakers across 100 sessions on specific topics such as remote monitoring in telemedicine, telemental health practice, and technology options for healthy aging.
Restaurants and cookbooks featuring diverse ethnic foods have become increasingly popular in the last several decades. Recipes from Southeast Asia have gained notoriety due to the strong flavors and spicy heat in many dishes. One very popular style of food from this region is Thai food, which contains elements and spices from Thailand, India, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
There are generally four main types of dishes in Thai cooking: boiled dishes (known as “tom”), spicy salads (“yam”), pounded foods (“tam”), and curries (“gaeng”). Some of the most well-known, popular dishes are pad Thai, sticky rice, Thai fried rice, and various Thai curries. Noodles are often used as a base for dishes and in soups, and are primarily from rice. Thai farmers are responsible for cultivating thousands of varieties of rice. One popular type that originated in Thailand is Jasmine rice, known for its sweet flavor and non-glutinous texture.
Thai cuisine utilizes many fresh herbs and spices to achieve unique flavor palettes in each dish. Curry dishes such as panang and massaman use coriander seeds to achieve an earthy flavor with an essence of biting heat at the end. Cumin seed is also used in many curries. The seeds are roasted and ground down into a paste for red, green, and yellow curries.
Another popular ingredient in Thai food is lime. Some dishes call for kaffir lime leaves and others for Thai lime, known as the “manao.” The leaves of the kaffir lime are used in several soups, including tom yam and the popular panang curry. Lemongrass and Thai basil are also popular as main ingredients or toppings for soups and curries. One more ingredient unique to Thai food is “galanga,” which is a root plant related to ginger, but with a slightly less pungent flavor profile. Galanga is used in the famous “tom kha gai” soup, which features chicken, coconut milk, and vegetables, in addition to the flavorful root.
Many Thai dishes are known for their spicy heat, with restaurants often using a rating system of one through five for patrons to select the spiciness of a dish. Zero typically involves little to no spice at all, while five is extremely spicy and generally not suggested for those new to Thai food. The spice level of a dish is often achieved through fresh or dried Thai chilies. There are five types of chilies in Thai cooking. Typically, the smaller the chili, the spicier it is. The hottest chili is the phrik khi nu suan, which is only 1.25 centimeters long. In contrast, the least spicy chili is the phrik yuak, which is very large and green in color. It is often used more as a vegetable than a spicy element.
Some Thai food dishes also feature various parts of the coconut fruit. Coconut milk is popular in curries and soups, as well as desserts. The juice from the coconut can be a drink itself, and the fruit’s flesh can be used as a main ingredient or topping for both sweet and savory dishes. Coconut oil is also used to flavor dishes or simply to sauté ingredients.
Many dishes in Thailand also use spices and ingredients from traditional Chinese cuisine. Garlic, ginger, and soy sauce are present in many Thai dishes as both main ingredients and separate toppings. Thai chefs have also added more dishes with stir-fried or deep-fried ingredients, a method thought to be traditionally from China.
Peter Killcommons 