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Wilderness medicine (practice)

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Wilderness medicine, providing "vital emergency care in remote settings" is a rapidly evolving field and is of increasing importance as more people engage in hiking, climbing, kayaking and other potentially hazardous activities in the backcountry. A primary focus of the field is the evaluation, prioritization (triage), preliminary treatment of acute injuries or illnesses which occur in those environments and the emergency evacuation of victims. However, back country rescue and wilderness first aid is not the sole activity of wilderness medical professionals, who are also concerned with many additional topics. These include but are not limited to:

Contents

  • secondary care follow up to first aid in remote settings, such as expeditions
  • evaluation of experience and issuance of updated protocols for first response and secondary care
  • the prevention of wilderness medical emergencies,
  • epidemiological studies,
  • public policy advisement to wilderness planning agencies, issuance of guidelines to disaster planning agencies, professional guides and amateur back country enthusiast organizations.

    • Scope of wilderness medicine

    Wilderness medicine is a varied sub-speciality, encompassing skills and knowledge from many other specialties.

    Diving and hyperbaric medicine

  • Physics & Physiology of Depth
  • Dive Medicine
  • Dysbarisms & Barotrauma

    • Tropical and travel medicine

  • Immunizations for Travel
  • Tick-borne Illness, Malaria and Tropical Diseases
  • Parasites & Protozoal infections in the Traveler
  • Traveler's Diarrhea
  • Women's Issues in Traveling
  • Safety & Security While Traveling
  • Travel Medicine
  • Travel Dermatology
  • Fever in the Returned Traveler & VHFs
  • STDs in the Adventure Traveler

    • High-altitude and mountaineering medicine

  • Physics & Physiology of Altitude
  • AMS, HAPE & HACE
  • The Effect of High Altitude on Underlying Medical Conditions

    • Expedition medicine

  • Basic Field Dentistry
  • Expedition Planning, pre- and post- expedition responsibilities

    • Survival, field craft and equipment

  • Survival Techniques and equipment
  • Water Procurement
  • Food Procurement
  • Hiking & Trekking
  • Foot Gear and Care of the Feet & Clothing Selection for Wilderness Survival
  • Land Navigation

    • Safety, rescue and evacuation

  • Search and Rescue theory and practice
  • Evacuation of Injured Persons

    • Preventive medicine, field sanitation and hygiene

  • Field Sanitation and Hygiene Measures
  • Vector Control and Barriers
  • Water Purification Methods

    • General environmental medicine

  • Lightning Injuries
  • Submersion and drowning
  • Envenomation, Toxicology and Animal Attacks
  • Heat Illness and Dehydration
  • Cold injuries and Hypothermia
  • Nutrition in Extreme Environments
  • Aerospace Medicine

    • Improvised medicine

  • Improvised Field Wound Management
  • Improvisational Medical Techniques in the Wilderness

    • Disaster and humanitarian assistance

  • Triage
  • Field Hospital provision
  • Malnutrition therapy

    • Wilderness emergencies and trauma management

  • Pre-hospital Patient Assessment
  • Pain Management in the Wilderness Setting
  • Emergency Airway Management
  • Psychological Response to Injury and Stress
  • Management of Trauma and Injuries

    • Epidemiology

    The Center for Disease Control in the U.S., as its corresponding agencies in other nations, also monitor pathogen vectors in conjunction with local departments of health, such as Lyme disease, plague and typhus which may be carried by small mammals in a back country or wilderness context.

    Austere environments interdisciplinary interface

    Insights from the field of Military Combat Tactical Care (TCCC) interact with wilderness medical practice and protocol development. Moreover, new products and technologies tested in combat are adopted by wilderness medical personnel and vice versa.

    References

    Wilderness medicine (practice) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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