Excerpt from A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine, by Dr. Eric A. Weiss.

ALTITUDE ILLNESS  (Mountain Sickness)
It is rare to experience altitude sickness below 6,000 feet.  Moderate altitude is between 8,000 and 12,000 feet (2,400 and 3,600 meters), High altitude is between 12,000 and 18,000 feet (3,600 and 5,400 meters), and extreme altitude is over 18,000 feet (5,400 meters).  High altitude illness is a direct result of reduces barometric pressure and concentration of oxygen in the air at high elevations.  Lower pressure make the air less dense, so your body gets fewer oxygen
molecules with every breath.
Prevention
Graded ascent is the best and safest method of preventing altitude illness.  Avoid abrupt ascent to sleeping altitudes greater than 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), and average no more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) of elevation gain per day above 10,000 feet.  Day trips to a higher altitude, with a return to lower altitudes for sleep, will aid acclimatization.  Eat foods that are high in carbohydrates and low in fat, and stay well hydrated.

AMKs’ BPA-Free S.O.L. Survival Water Bottle – The Only Bottle That Can Save Your Life Even When It’s Empty!

The recent admission from SIGG that the aluminum bottles it had produced prior to August 2008 contained the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) has once again put into sharp focus the safety of all water bottles. There is one way, however, you can be sure your next water bottle does not contain BPA or any other potentially harmful chemicals — that’s to select one made from stainless steel, like AMK’s new S.O.L. Survival Bottle.

Ugh, it is tick season. As we all know, they are nasty little buggers that carry Lyme Disease and other viruses. Do you know how to protect yourself against ticks?

Download our Tick Field Reference Guide to learn more about:

• How to protect yourself.
• How to identify a tick.
• How to properly remove a tick.
• What to do if you have been bitten.

Tick Reference Card

(Click image to download)

You can also read our blog about Lyme Disease to learn more.

By Christopher Van Tilburg, MD

I’ve been chomped by a tick multiple times, as have most people who regularly tramp in the outdoors. It’s creepy — the tick drops onto your skin, burrows in painlessly, and sucks. Its anticoagulant can cause tick paralysis, and these arthropods carry all sorts of infections: Colorado Tick Fever (a virus), Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (parasite), Tularemia (a bacteria), and the more commonly known Lyme Disease.

by Eric A. Weiss, M.D. (excerpt from his book,
A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine)

VENOMOUS SNAKE BITES

There are two classes of poisonous snakes in the United States:

• Pit Vipers (rattlesnakes, cottonmouths [water moccasins], and copperheads) have a characteristic triangular head, a deep pit (heat receptor organ) between the eye and nostril, and a catlike, elliptical pupil.

• Elapids (coral snakes) are characterized by their color pattern with red, black, and yellow or white bands encircling the body. The fangs are short — these snakes bite by chewing rather than by striking.

The recent Swine Flu scare, and the subsequent calls of government health officials to use hand sanitizers regularly as a key means of reducing the likelihood of contracting the virus, has reignited the alcohol vs. benzalkonium chloride debate. While alcohol based hand sanitizers with concentration levels above 60% are effective at killing germs, next generation sanitizers containing benzalkonium chloride have been shown to provide protection long after an alcohol based sanitizer evaporates from your skin.

Handclens (the generic name for AMK’s Adventure Hand Sanitizer ), which contains BZK, kills all 3 types of germs: viruses, bacteria and fungi, including Influenza Type A, of which Swine Flu H1N1 is a subtype.

Navigation Basics: Map and Compass

Check out these great tips found on REI.com

Together they form the first of the time-tested Ten Essentials—map and compass, the indispensible twin tools of navigation. Even in this high-tech GPS era, nothing replaces the value of a magnetized compass, a paper map and the understanding of how both can help you find your way in the wilderness.

The Resort Sports Network (RSN), a national television network that specializes in creating and distributing outdoor content to America’s premier resorts, has announced it will begin airing AMK’s ‘Be Safe’ video segments starting in April. Hosted by high altitude mountaineer Ed Viesturs, the ‘Be Safe’ vignettes were designed to provide viewers with useful tips on first aid, safety and survival in the outdoors.   Based in Portland, Maine, RSN broadcasts content into 125 mountain and beach destinations across the country. Currently, RSN has affiliates in the following markets:

Oh Noooo! …Tips for Treating & Avoiding Travelers’ Diarrhea

By Christopher Van Tilburg, MD

After an all-night flight to Santiago, Chile, last year, I passed out a pack of AMK’s Fresh Bath Travel Wipes to everyone in our group right before hitting the tarmac. It was rejuvenating.And, the antibacterial properties actually do more than refresh, they function to prevent the most common travel related illness – travelers’ diarrhea.

The Risk of Travelers Diarrhea (TD) is higher than malaria: it is the most common affliction when heading overseas. According to the Centers for Disease Control, TD affects 30-50% of all travelers to high-risk areas. That’s 50,000 people per day and 10 million per year. TD is essentially food poisoning, which occurs when consuming food or water that is contaminated by bacteria, parasites, or viruses. It gets on your food or hands, and then down your gullet.

BE SAFE Tip – Travel Tip – Always Carry Suture and Syringe Supplies

When traveling in Developing Countries carry sterile suture/syringe supplies to hand to a local professional medical care provider to insure the use of sterile needles. Over 10 million people per year contract a lethal disease such as HIV and Hepatitis through the re-use of needles.

You can get a Suture Syringe Medic Kit here.

Learn more travel medicine and first aid tips – click here for Dr. Weiss’s Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine.