Wilderness+Medicine


 * This wikispace aims to bring together information useful for //anyone// who spends time in remote or wilderness environments. **


 * Though clinicians are the priority audience, the contents of this wikispace are //not// just clinical. **

It includes sections on: • clinical care in the wilderness (some of this is applicable only to trained clinicians) • outdoor knowledge and skills, such as navigation • teamwork and leadership (& "human factors" - aka "non-technical skills") • teaching, learning & education • recommended books (and a few other things)

Definition of "wilderness medicine"
**The practice of medicine where definitive care is more than one hour away, and often days to weeks away.**

A quote from Luanne Freer (Lancet 2003 vol 392 pp s6-s7)
 * So, what is wilderness medicine? For me, time will tell. I have been practising in the wilderness for more than a decade and I still find myself searching for a concise answer. But there is nothing concise about it. The real joy is that I plan to continue to look for that answer for the rest of my life. Herein lies the opportunity for anyone who seeks to understand and practise wilderness medicine—to combine your profession with a passion for the unknown and the wild. **

Some quotations
** //It is a journey into Being; for as I penetrate more deeply into the mountain's life, I penetrate also into my own. For an hour I am beyond desire. It is not ecstasy, that leap out of the self that makes man like a god. I am not out of myself, but in myself. To know Being, this is the final grace accorded from the mountain.// **

Nan Shepherd

** //It is not enough to understand the natural world. The point is to defend and preserve it.// ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Edward Abbey

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**// The voyage of discovery lies not in finding new landscapes, but in having new eyes. //** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Marcel Proust

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Douglas Adams
 * //<span style="color: #008000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. //**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Content
<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**Please use the navigation menu or the search box on the left to find topics.** <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">**The "recent changes" link on the left will do what it says!**

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> The clinical pages include: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> - the @SAFETAC structured approach <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> - how to @triage when demand exceeds capacity <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> - how to conduct a primary survey and manage the problems found during that survey <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> - how to conduct a @secondary survey, issues relating to @prolonged field care (when immediate evacuation is not possible) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> - issues relating to @evacuation.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The pages about outdoor skills and knowledge are based on the syllabus of the Mountain Leader (UK) course.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> There are pages covering non-technical skills (aka "human factors") such as leadership and teamwork - as these are vital attributes in the wilderness - and also about teaching - part of wilderness medicine is sharing knowledge, skills and the attitudes that lead to fulfillment and enjoyment for others.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Background & information for medical students
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This wikispace was developed as a resource for medical students on the Wilderness Medicine Student Selected Component based in Durham (the first in the UK) though it is hoped others will find it useful. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Poster presentation at workshop on teaching & learning: improving the experience, Newcastle 2008: <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Poster presentation at 2007 World Congress of Wilderness Medicine:




 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">If you want to join this wikispace or want information about the course we run please contact "wilddoc" - click on "manage wikispace" top left of this page then on "wilddoc" next to creator. **

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Some stuff that did not fit into other headings:
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wilderness medical society <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; line-height: 1.5;">An eclectic [|collection of images and quotes], many of which relate to the wilderness <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Paul Auerbach blog <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> The fitness fixer (Jolie Bookspan) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Nutrition for health and performance <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Mountain Equipment Co-op: Good gear at good prices <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Taking better hill photos (video)



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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 19px;">Links to organisations providing external instructors for the wilderness medicine course run in Durham (England)
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Teesdale & Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Exmed] [|Rescue North East] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Bushcraft Expeditions] <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">[|Carnegie Great Outdoors]