Newsletter Index > Adventure Tidings e-Newsletter, April 2010
Wilderness Medicine
Know Before You Go!
by Brook Davis
As another season of summer wilderness adventure rounds the corner, many people are eagerly making their trip plans. Gear is packed, routes are chosen, food is prepared and transportation is arranged: but have you planned for an unexpected medical emergency? Everyone from the expedition guru to the weekend warrior needs to plan for a medical emergency. Ok.........so you remembered to throw in the first-aid kit. What about the rest of your plan?
Supplies
Look in your first-aid kit and top up supplies that were used last season. Check expiry dates on any drugs or sensitive supplies. Ask yourself, is there any chance the kit has been exposed to freezing conditions in the winter? If so, some medications and supplies may have been jeopardized. Add any medications or supplies specific to your wilderness pursuit or current health needs. Bring a back up of any prescription medications used by group members.
Training
Does someone in your group have up-to-date first-aid certification? It is great to have a first-aid kit, but do you have the knowledge and skill in a crisis situation to use it? When traveling in the wilderness a standard first aid certification isn’t sufficient. These courses are designed and taught with the expectation that an ambulance and professional medical help is available within 10-15 minutes response time. This is not the case on any type of wilderness adventure. Our recommended minimum training level for travel in wilderness areas is a Wilderness Advanced First Aid Course ( WAFA). These courses are geared for people who are more than two hours transport time from a hospital and focuses on prolonged patient care and stabilization until advanced medical help arrives or can be reached. However if you are spending extended time in the wilderness or are a wilderness professional a Wilderness First Responder ( WFR) course is what re recommend. Of course it is great to have taken the course once-upon-at-time, but if the certification is outdated you might spend more time trying to shake the cobwebs out of your brain than caring effectively for your patient.
Communication
In our technological world we have many options to improve communication from the wilderness. Consider the area you are going to, the needs of your group and what technologies do or do not work in that area. A cell phone, SPOT messenger or satellite phone could provide potentially life-saving communication. When packing these devices make sure you have a waterproof container and extra batteries. From personal experience, when dealing with a medical emergency in the backcountry, a satellite phone battery can be quickly exhausted when the proverbial you-know-what hits the fan.
Local Knowledge
If the unthinkable happens, knowledge of the local emergency resources is imperative. Who responds to medical emergencies in the area and what resources do they have? What is their response time to your area? Where is the closest medical facility and what level of care can it provide? Is there a local organization responsible for organizing medivac’s or will you need to organize your own? Compile a list of phone numbers including; the local hospital, health center or nursing station, EMS, and local road/water/air charter services and carry these with you.
The Final Word
Proper preparation and careful planning will hopefully avoid most medical events in the wilderness. However if a situations arises, good advanced planning remains a preventative measure. However, now you will no longer be attempting to prevent the incident. That ship has already sailed. Instead, you will be attempting to prevent secondary injuries, unnecessary hardship to victims or group members and costly and ill-planned rescue efforts that created secondary risks of their own.
Pack some advanced planning and professional training alongside your bandages and now your first aid kit has become a powerful tool.
Keep your head up ( except near helicopters!)
Brook Davis Wilderness First Aid Courses
About the Author: Brook Davis
Brook Davis is a co-owner of Cabin Fever Adventures. She is a wilderness guide and medical professional trained as a northern outpost nurse. Brook enjoys the greatly expanded scope of skills that go along with being an outpost nurse in northern communities. The nursing stations provide all front-line medical care from emergency child-births to long term management of chronic illness and even responding to medical emergencies in the field.....( sometimes by snowmobile! )
Brook is an instructor for Wilderness Medical Associates of Canada, a well-respected organization which teaches industry-recognized wilderness-oriented first aid curriculum. Brook is also an instructor for the Canadian Red Cross.
She is an avid outdoors person and combines her passion for wilderness travel along with her medical training to help ensure Cabin Fever Adventures practices state-of-the-art risk management and keeps its eye on any changes in best-practices for wilderness first aid.
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