Stephen Beerman

Dr. Stephen Beerman is a Clinical Professor and Site Director (2007-2019) with the Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. He is a Family Physician in Nanaimo, Canada for 32 years. He is a graduate of the UBC Faculties of Science, Rehabilitation Medicine, Medicine and the UBC Family Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Beerman has a long volunteer service to drowning prevention, water rescue, lifesaving and resuscitation. He was the Principle Investigator of the Bangladesh Anchal and SwimSafe (BASS) Child Drowning Prevention Research. This is a leading research team seeking innovative cost effective interventions to reduce Low and Middle Income Country (LMIC) child drowning mortality and risk. Drowning is the lead cause of mortality in many LMIC communities for children age 1-14 yrs. This project was started in 2013 with 4 interventions to reduce child drowning in rural Bangladesh.

This work has funding investments from Grand Challenges Canada, on behalf of the Government of Canada, Drowning Prevention Research Centre Canada, UBC Faculty of Medicine, the Royal Life Saving Society Australia (RLSSA), and the host nation partner, Centre for Injury Prevention Research, Bangladesh (CIPRB).

Dr. Beerman is the Co-Chair of the Canadian Drowning Prevention Coalition. This national NGO is providing leadership to the Canadian Drowning Prevention Plan. In addition, he is an advisor to the WHO Global Report on Drowning and the Implementation Manual. He assisted with the working group on the Clarification and Classification for Non-Fatal Drowning.

Dr. Steve Beerman is a Past President of the International Life Saving Federation (ILS), a Past President of the Lifesaving Society Canada and a past chair of the ILS Medical Committee. He was awarded The Commemorative Medal for The 125h Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada in 1992 and The Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for significant contributions to Canada, to community and to fellow Canadians. The College of Family Physicians of Canada presented Dr. Stephen Beerman their Award of Excellence for Community Family Physician of the Year in 2012.