By Buck Tilton

It’s your gear—closer to you than many people, as familiar as that face in the mirror. Maybe that’s the problem: Familiarity. It breeds contempt, and we forget gear can cause injuries. So, take heed of these pointers before hitting the trail this spring:

By Buck Tilton

To combine the three essential elements–oxygen, heat, and fuel–successfully into a fire requires more thought than usual when white stuff cloaks the ground.

Assuming you’re carrying a source of heat,  finding fuel will be the great challenge. Dry tinder, kindling, and larger pieces of fuel are not only harder to find, but wood with its moisture frozen inside may appear deceptively ignitable yet fail to burn.

Tinder

Q. What’s the best way to treat rattle snake bites in the wild?

Thanks –Lorenzo.

A. Lorenzo, please check out the “Venomous Snake Bites” chapter (excerpted below) from Dr. Weiss’ A Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness & Travel Medicine, 3rd.

Treatment

The definitive treatment for snake venom poisoning is the administration of antivenin. The most important aspect of therapy is to get the victim to a medical facility as quickly as possible.

Signs and Symptoms of Envenomation

• One or more fang marks (rattlesnake bites may leave one, two, or even three fang marks).

By Christopher Van Tilburg, MD

With 2011 not quite two months old, we thought it high time to look at some big trends that are poised to impact wilderness medicine and safety this year. Here are five that may affect you:

1. WFR standardizations. For guides, rangers, and search and rescue teams, the de facto course for medical training beyond first aid has long been the Wilderness First Responder course. The week-long “woofer” course is offered by a number of schools, but they differ in content, instruction, and length. Right now, there is no formal standardization on content, schools, or teachers, but work is underway to homogenize WFR. The task, however, is fraught with the difficulty of trying to reconcile widely varying state laws, student needs, and teaching styles. WHY IT MATTERS: You may soon be able to get a WFR card recognized around the nation.

By Buck Tilton

Not all snow is created equal—it can be soft and dry, heavy and wet, hard as rock—but most snow can be shaped into a quick shelter and, in an emergency, a shelter may save your life.

Make Use of What the Terrain Offers

By Christopher Van Tilburg, MD

The final week of 2010 was bittersweet for snow sports enthusiasts. Massive storms pummeled the Western mountains in North America with big fat flakes. Skiers and snowboarders flocked to the pow on holiday break.  Unfortunately, in a five-day span, five died in deep snow and tree wells. A sixth death occurred just after the New Year. The unlucky were found inbounds, out-of-bounds, and in the backcountry; they were skiers and snowboarders of various skill levels. The two commonalities that link all of their deaths: deep snow and stormy weather.

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

Snow blindness is a sunburn to the eye from intense ultraviolet radiation at high altitude or while traveling in the snow which results in a corneal abrasion.

Unfortunately, you are unaware that the injury is occurring until it is too late, because signs and symptoms of snow blindness are delayed by about six hours from the time of exposure to the light. Wearing adequate eye protection (100% UV blocking sunglasses with side protectors) can prevent snow blindness.

Dear Doc,

I get a headache when I hunt elk from a camp at 11,000 feet, despite
living at 5,700 feet and cross-country skiing at 10,800 feet with no
symptoms. Is there a threshold when it comes to altitude illness?

Thanks in advance, Marilyn.

Hello Marilyn,

There is a threshold, but unfortunately it is different for everyone. While one person may experience a high altitude headache (the cardinal symptom of acute mountain sickness) at 11,000 feet, others may get a headache at 8,000 or none at any elevation in the lower 48.

Buck Tilton

A simple fact towers above all others: if you aren’t prepared to survive an unexpected night outside in winter, you probably won’t. In ideally bad conditions, cold will suck out enough body heat in a couple of hours to disable you—and chill you off beyond recovery in three.

How did you get in this situation? You were backcountry skiing, or hunting, maybe hiking on a pre-snow, cold afternoon. Your story could be like CNET reporter James Kim’s whose drive in Oregon mountains with his family on a winter day, almost exactly four years ago, turned fatal.  You didn’t anticipate the snowfall, or the blinding wind—and wasn’t the sun supposed to be up at least another hour?

By Buck Tilton

Encounters between humans and bears are rising in number. Why? The weather partially explains it. Warmer temps keep bears active longer. But the main reason, all things considered, is more likely to be the increase in the number of bears. Wyoming, for instance, estimates triple the population of grizzlies (about 200 to more than 600) in the Yellowstone ecosystem since the mid-1970s. As Brian DeBolt, the bear management officer for Wyoming Game & Fish, told the Casper Star-Tribune: “. . . if you’ve got more bears, you are going to have more conflicts.” And hunters top the list of possible victims because they walk around quietly, stalking game in bear country, and smelling like dinner.