Entries filed under 'wilderness medicine'

Smash Your Finger? Get WMI's Tips on Healing Painful Blood Blisters

Poor Angela. The 2 of us were putting up our tents after a long and difficult day of hiking. Grumpily, she picked up a large rock, placed a tent stake against the hard dirt--and smashed her thumb. Bad news for her, but another chance for me to teach wilderness medicine! ...

Posted by Hovey WMI on October 18, 2012 11:00 AM & Tagged NOLS, Wilderness Medicine Institute, blood blister, subungual hematoma and wilderness medicine | permalink | Comments



My Backpacking Story: How a Small Cut Became a Raging Infection

My problems started with just a little cut near the knuckle of my left index finger. I'd been backpacking for 10 days in arctic Norway and seen nothing but fog and rain the entire time. It's true, even busy instructors like me must sometimes take a break from teaching classes at the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS to go into the wilderness ourselves. ...

Posted by Hovey WMI on October 3, 2012 10:00 AM & Tagged WMI of NOLS, Wilderness Medicine Institute, soft tissue infection and wilderness medicine | permalink | Comments



Humans Vs. Rattlesnakes, Part 2: Will Gaiters Protect Me?

A reader asks: Does wearing gaiters protect a person from rattlesnake bites? The question is a good one. The Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS has taught thousands of people how to handle emergencies since 1990, but we've yet to find a study that definitively answers how well gaiters protect from rattlesnake fangs. There are many factors that come into play. What size rattlesnakes? What types of gaiters? ...

Posted by Hovey WMI on September 14, 2012 8:45 AM & Tagged WMI of NOLS, gaiters, rattlesnake and wilderness medicine | permalink | Comments



Treating Snakebite: Keep It Simple

If one believes any of the lore on treating snakebites, then you have a bewildering number of options. Should I pack the limb in ice or apply ice only on the bite? Should I use a stun gun or jumper cables from my car battery to run electricity through the bite? Perhaps I should slather it with meat tenderizer, use a tourniquet, hope my special black rock absorbs venom or resort to incision and suction, a la John Wayne in the film True Grit.  If you believe the credible medical advice, as I do, ...

Posted by Tod at WMI on July 29, 2010 8:20 PM & Tagged NOLS, WMI, backcountry, first aid, rattlesnake, snakebite, wilderness medical institute and wilderness medicine | permalink | Comments



Wilderness First Aid Training: Now at an REI Near You

I've spent years trying to explain what wilderness medicine is and what it isn't. In its simplest form, wilderness medicine is simply medicine performed in specific circumstances often involving extended patient contact, challenging environmental conditions and limited supplies. It does not include radical medical techniques performed on the side of K2 or understanding of how to use indigenous plants as medical therapies. It is much simpler than that. A broken bone is a broken bone whether you ...

Posted by Shana_WMI on July 15, 2010 11:49 AM & Tagged NOLS, WMI, backcountry, first aid, wilderness medical institute and wilderness medicine | permalink | Comments