High altitude illnesses can occur when individuals trek to the higher elevations around the world finding themselves in an environment that is not supportive of human life. We have the ability to adapt, or acclimatize, to higher elevations if, we give our bodies time to adapt. Therein lays the problem—it takes time for our human physiology to make appropriate adjustments so that we may survive and thrive in higher and higher environs.
A simple example is a climb up Mount Everest to its summit at 29,035’ (8,850m). By slowly walking from sea level (1 atmosphere) to 29,035’ (1/3 atmosphere), your body has time to acclimatize to that altitude and extract enough oxygen out of the rarified air to survive. However, if you flew to the same altitude of 29,035’ and then decompressed the plane to that altitude, you would be unconscious within 2 – 3 minutes and dead within 8-10 minutes.
November/December 2006 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 19 Number 6
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20 Years of the Wilderness Medicine Newsletter
/in Disaster Response, Environemtal Injuries, Mountain rescue, prevention/by WMN EditorsRead more
High Altitude Illness
/in Altitude Illness, Environemtal Injuries/by WMN EditorsHigh altitude illnesses can occur when individuals trek to the higher elevations around the world finding themselves in an environment that is not supportive of human life. We have the ability to adapt, or acclimatize, to higher elevations if, we give our bodies time to adapt. Therein lays the problem—it takes time for our human physiology to make appropriate adjustments so that we may survive and thrive in higher and higher environs.
A simple example is a climb up Mount Everest to its summit at 29,035’ (8,850m). By slowly walking from sea level (1 atmosphere) to 29,035’ (1/3 atmosphere), your body has time to acclimatize to that altitude and extract enough oxygen out of the rarified air to survive. However, if you flew to the same altitude of 29,035’ and then decompressed the plane to that altitude, you would be unconscious within 2 – 3 minutes and dead within 8-10 minutes.
November/December 2006 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 19 Number 6
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Orthopedic Emergencies
/in Orthopedic Emergencies/by WMN EditorsIn this edition of the WMN, we will concentrate on the recognition and management of a fractured pelvis, a fractured femur, angulated fractures, and compound fractures. For the sake of completeness, we will also include a quick review of the management of chest trauma, head trauma, facial trauma, and compartment syndrome (we covered these four topics in past issues of the newsletter)
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September/October 2006 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 19 Number 5
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Poisonous Pearls of Wisdom
/in Poisons/by WMN EditorsThe mention of poisons and accidental poisoning is both a little disconcerting and at the same time fascinating. We have all enjoyed a good thriller whose main character had to unravel what happened to the deceased only to find out that some sort of exotic, odorless, and tasteless toxin had been slipped into their holiday eggnog. The science of toxicology and the recognition and management of potential poisoning victims is complex and inexhaustible. At home in our local emergency departments, we have the luxury of poison control centers with their extensive toxin databases. In the wilderness, in distant lands, or on the high seas, we do not have easy access to this wealth of information, so we have to be prepared to deal with a potential accidental poisoning victim. Even though it is less of a problem in the extended care setting, there is still a risk of accidental poisoning, especially from foods.
July/August 2006 ISSN-1059-6518 Volume 19 Number 4
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