Helicopters serve two primary purposes in wilderness medicine: 1) early treatment and rapid evacuation of the critically injured; and 2) the controlled evacuation of minor injuries where other methods of evacuation would be more difficult, more costly, and potentially more dangerous to rescuers. Understanding a few basic principles about helicopter operation will help you decide if and when you should call for a helicopter evacuation.
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Developing atherosclerosis, plaque rupture, and subsequent clotting of a coronary artery is the most common cause of heart attacks. Signs and symptoms commonly appear immediately and are due to a lack of oxygen in the affected tissue. Cardiac arrest is unpredictable and if it occurs is ultimately due to a change in the electrical impulses and conduction pattern in the specialized cardiac nerves that stimulate normal cardiac contractions. An injury to these nerves blocks the conduction pathway. The block prevents or delays the electrical impulses from reaching their destination and causes cardiac arrest. The potential for arrest from a heart attack is directly
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Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and cardiocerebrial resuscitation (CCR) are valuable first aid skills and we should all master them. That said, their effectiveness is severely limited in a wilderness environment. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation uses a combination of chest compressions and rescue breathing to delay brain death and extend the resuscitation window while cardiocerebral resuscitation utilizes chest compressions only; both are potentially life-saving techniques. It takes approximately 10-12 chest compressions to build enough intrathoracic
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Four years ago we opened our hybrid Distance Learning Project (DLP) wilderness medicine courses to the general public. Overall they were — and are — hugely successful. Our hybrid course curriculum is continually evaluated and our delivery systems updated annually. Each of our medical courses has a hybrid option and each hybrid course has it's own dedicated web site that may be accessed via a personal computer, iPad, or tablet. Students use the presentations on the course web site and hard copies of our textbook and/or handbook
 
 
_What are they & what's the difference between them? Briefly, each are a set of guidelines for spine assessment. All are backed by solid research and all are in common use. Here's a quick summary of the differences:
 
 
_By now many of you are aware that the American Red Cross offers a Wilderness & Remote First Aid Course based on the curriculum developed by the Boy Scouts of America. They have also launched a massive marketing campaign to attract students, instructors, and sponsors. This is a "buyer beware" situation. While the Red Cross has a long history in teaching urban first aid, their Wilderness and Remote First Aid course leaves much to be desired when compared to the Wilderness First Aid courses offered by most of the professional providers. Below is a list of pros and cons. Read it carefully.