Wilderness Medicine Case Study 4

You and and a friend are on a week-log hut trip in British Columbia. You have been backcountry skiing; it has been bitterly cold all day. On the way back to the hut your friend starts to complain of cold hands. Back at the yurt, her hands appear a bit pale and stiff but otherwise rather normal. To be on the safe side you decide to rewarm them in warm water. After about ten minutes she reports that her hands are burning as they warm up and his index and middle fingers of her left hand are slightly swollen and throbbing. Later that night she notices a blister has formed on the tip of each finger; the throbbing pain remains but is less severe than before. There are three days left in your stay.

What do you think is wrong and what can you do about it? Click here to find out.

Don't know where to begin or what to do? Take one of our wilderness medicine courses. Guides and expedition leaders should consider taking our Wilderness First Responder course.

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