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Backpacker Magazine – November 2009
The Ultimate First-Aid Manual: Stay or Go?
Use this chart to determine if you can finish your trip–or should hightail it to the ER.
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Tags:
- Survival |
- Health & first aid |
Minor Wounds |
Heavy Bleeding |
Muscles & Bones |
Animal & Insect Bites |
Gastrointestinal Illness |
Dental Emergencies |
Environmental Threats |
Stay or Go: Calculating Your Risk |
Extreme First Aid |
First Aid Improv |
What to Pack |
Evacuate or Wait? | Risk Factors
|
Problem
|
Stick it out if . . .
|
Head for help if . . .
|
| Hypothermia | Person warms up and feels fine | Pulse slows; shivering stops; person becomes incoherent or unconscious |
| Frostbite | Tissue warms and looks normal | Blisters or black tissue form |
| Heat illness | Persons cools off and feels fine | Person has altered mental status and red, hot skin |
| Muscle/bone injury | Person can use the injured part | Person cannot use the injured part |
| Diarrhea | Problem resolves within 24 hours | Problem persists for more than 24 hours |
| Wounds | They are cleaned, properly dressed, and don't require closure |
They are large enough to require closure; they're deep wounds on the face or neck |
| Burns | Pain is manageable and no large blisters form |
Pain is intense; blisters are large; face is burned |
LEARN MORE
The Ultimate First-Aid Manual
Wilderness Medicine Institute cofounder Buck Tilton boils down a lifetime's worth of experience into 62 tips
Photo Tutorials: First Aid Center
From splinting a broken leg to duct taping a bloody wound, the BACKPACKER First Aid Center is an invaluable resource for backcountry first aid.
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READERS COMMENTS
Agreed with Dr. Joslin! And don't just "head for help", but continue to try and cool the person - keeping them out of the sun, wetting them down and fanning help. (See you at ACEP, Dr. Joslin?) :)
Heat Stroke, a life threatening condition in the Heat Illness category, is what Buck is alluding to with the "altered mental status and red, hot skin". It should be noted, though, that neither red, hot, nor dry skin are REQUIRED to diagnose or be concerned for heat stroke. ANY PERSON with altered mental status REQUIRES evacuation in the setting of heat illness regardless of skin color or condition.
Jeremy Joslin, MD & Wilderness Medicine Physician
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