Overlanders and Wilderness Injuries

[ColdFajitas]

Hey all,

I know I’m new here and fairly new to Overlanding but thought I’d offer up some info. I searched the forums for topics regarding first aid and what to do in case of medical emergencies but didn’t see anything that fit what I wanted to talk about so I’d thought I’d open up a topic.

I currently live in North Carolina and am a Flight Nurse here onboard Helos doing Interfacility Transfers as well as EMS Response for (generally) trauma that EMS requests when in need of additional resources and/or more rapid transport. Aside from my RN license, I’m also a Certified Emergency Nurse , Nationally Registered EMT, and an American Heart Association Instructor for Basic Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, Advanced Burn Life Support, as well as an Emergency Nurses Association Instructor for Trauma Core Courses.

I’m also on the State Medical Assistance Team and State Radiological Emergency Corps.

In short, my job for the last eight years has been medical emergencies, disaster response, and trauma.


We all love the outdoors and rely on ourselves to get our rigs unstuck, food cooked, and families cared for and I thought I would open myself up to any questions or info anyone wanted about emergency medicine or a Med pack for your rigs.

I think it’s important to have the basics in first aid and CPR in case something were to go awry out there and I just wanted to advocate to always having a first aid kit on board and being able to care for each other in case of injury and/or emergencies.

If this topic was already covered in depth and I’m just being myopic then whoopsie! But in any case anyone can feel free to ask me whatever they want whether it be on the forum or via private message.

Happy Overlanding out there guys and stay safe!

 

[FireMedicPQ1]

Good thread to get folks thinking and talking about this. I too have medical training (over 20 years in EMS) and believe that you need to be prepared. With the new emphasis on lay-person "stop the bleed" and "hands only CPR." it is pretty easy to have those potential emergencies covered without a lot of effort or extensive education. Most people won't have access to medications that are used in hospitals and EMS, but over the counter meds stocked in a kit could be helpful (i.e. Benedryl for allergic reactions). Let's use our collective experience and throw out some ideas for the lay-provider to be prepared.

-Paul

 

[smritte]

This is a topic that needs to be addressed fairly regularly. Someone posts, people respond and the thread fades. Very few people do a search on it.
Im not EMS trained, I have basic training from red cross and a wilderness first aid course from one of my local back-pack stores. I have been working and attending offroad events most of my life and fortunately the things that I've seen that are beyond me, someone properly trained was there.

The common injuries I've seen are sprains, sometimes a broken limb from losing their balance and getting foot wedged between rocks. Cactus thorns are where you find out just how bad the tweezers you have are. Had people slip off their step/slider and twist coming down as well as a head injury from that once. Had two very bad roll overs (both were preventable) with one requiring a trip to the hospital.
Most of the bad cuts were people cutting things with sharp objects and injuring themselves. Lets not forget burns. All of the serious burns I've seen have been preventable and most involved alcohol. Been lucky not to have any snake bites. We have Mojave Greens here.

I guess what Im trying to show here is most of the injuries I have seen were due to people not paying attention or getting in over their head in what they were doing. The off road events had people contained in an area so medical help wasn't impossible. Some of the trips I do (not events) could last a week plus with me being a good distance from any help. Ive been fortunate in not having any real problems on those. I am very selective on who I travel with on those trips. The little training I do have, fades with time and needs to be refreshed fairly regularly.

Scott

 

[El Solis]

ColdFajitas, FireMedicPQ1, and smritte,

Thanks for jumping in!! As the medical ambassador for OB I welcome and appreciate all the help!! There is a section in the Boot Camp area which deals with first aid, kits and equipment, and will have videos related to the use of gear, basic and advanced first aid/trauma techniques appropriate for all levels of skill and training, and scenarios for people to practice with. We are working on developing this section in to a robust, concise, and standardized area of information related to first aid and trauma.

Chris