Do you
like to regularly spend time in the great outdoors? Do you like spending
time away from the busy world in which we live? Would you just like to
spend some time getting back in touch with the natural world?
Getting back to nature can be a wonderful and fulfilling experience for
everyone. However, in the event of an emergency, are you prepared?
Please take a moment to relax, stretching if necessary. I am going to
describe a scene to you and I want you to try and imagine yourself in
the following situation.
You and a loved one are in the dining room of your home. You have just
finished a late evening supper. Now it is time to cleanup and wash the
dirty dishes. Your loved one has finished before you and starts cleaning
up first. He or she takes some of the dirty dishes and heads out of the
room toward the kitchen. The kitchen is just in the next room but you
cannot see into it from where you sit. As you are sitting you hear your
loved one scream from the kitchen and there follows a crash and the sound
of someone falling.
You call out as you leap up from the table and rush to the kitchen.
As you enter the kitchen you see your loved one lying unconscious on the
floor. The dishes they were carrying are broken and scattered about. As
you get closer you see that one of their legs seems to be bent at an odd
angle and you think it may be broken. Additionally there is blood from
a gash on their forehead and some blood on the edge of a nearby counter
top. It appears that your loved one tripped or slipped on something and
fell hitting their head on the counter top.
Thinking quickly, you dial 911. An emergency operator takes your call
and keeps you calm by talking to you while an ambulance responds. Within
15 minutes the ambulance and emergency response personnel have arrived.
Apart from questions emergency personnel ask you, the situation is now
out of your hands. You did what you could, as quickly as you could. Your
loved one will now be taken to a nearby hospital and given the best medical
care available.
Now, how do you feel about what just happened? Did you feel calmer after
you called 911? Did you feel even better after the ambulance and medical
personal showed up and took control of the situation?
Now relax once again, and picture yourself in the next situation. Again
I am going to describe the scene to you and I want you to try to and imagine
yourself in the following situation.
You and a loved one are at a beautiful campsite deep within the woods.
You have just finished an excellent late evening meal cooked over an open
campfire. It is now time to cleanup and wash the dishes. Your loved one
has finished before you and starts cleaning up first. They take some of
the dishes and head down the hill to a nearby stream. The stream is just
down the hill. As you sit, you hear your loved one scream from down the
hill and there follows a crash and the sound of someone falling.
You call out as you leap up from the campfire and rush down to the stream.
As you get closer to the stream you see your loved one lying unconscious
on the forest floor. The dishes they were carrying are broken and scattered
about. As you get closer you see that one of their legs seems to be bent
at an odd angle and you think it may be broken. Additionally, there is
blood from a gash on their forehead and some blood on the edge of a nearby
rock outcropping. It appears your loved one tripped or slipped on something
and fell hitting their head on the rocks nearby.
Thinking quickly you get out your cell phone and dial 911. Unfortunately
there is no response as there is no signal available here. You start to
call for help, but realize that one of the reasons you chose this location
is that there is no one nearby. You also realize that it is at least a
mile or more down the trail to where your car is parked, and at least
an hour to the nearest hospital.
Fortunately, it is light now but you realize that it will soon be getting
dark. It will also be getting colder as the sun begins to set and night
comes.
You are on your own and all you have available is the camping gear you
brought with you.
What are you going to do? You are the only help immediately available,
and the life of your loved one may depend on your next action.
Now, how do you feel about what just happened?
I do not wish to alarm or scare anyone from camping by describing the
above situation, but I wish to make you aware that accidents can and do
happen at anytime. They can even happen if you are a seasoned adventurer,
in good physical shape, carrying gear in good condition, and traveling
in an area you have been to hundreds of times. Proper preparation and
increasing your awareness can reduce the possibility of a mishap occurring,
yet even those with the best laid plans can encounter the unexpected.
In the first situation, it is easy to get help for the injured party by
simply calling 911. In our modern world, help, even for a life threatening
situation, is often just a phone call away.
The second situation is somewhat more complex. There is no immediate help
nearby, and medical supplies are limited to what you have brought into
the wilderness with you. Additionally, you have to deal with the outdoor
environment where lighting, temperature, and weather conditions can and
often do vary between extremes.
A fully stocked. medical kit along with trained medical personnel would
be nice to have, but impractical to take camping all the time. In place
of that you can arm yourself with the best available tool, knowledge.
For this I highly recommend you look into attending a course on Wilderness
First Aid.
Now some of you might say you do not need another first aid course, you
have already had what you believe to be sufficient first aid training.
Responding to this I would like you to honestly answer a few simple questions.
1) In your opinion, do you think your current first aid training would
be sufficient to deal with the above situation in the woods?
2) Do you routinely carry, and know how to use a first aid kit when outdoors?
3) Do you carry sufficient medical gear when outdoors to deal with every
possible situation?
4) Can you improvise any necessary equipment from the normal outdoor gear
you travel with?
5) Can you splint broken bones, using improvised material?
6) Are you prepared to deal with a possible head, neck, or spinal injury?
7) Can you recognize symptoms of exposure or dehydration?
8) Do you know how to treat a victim of exposure or dehydration?
9) Are you able to find, take, and record a victim's vital signs?
10) Would you be able to give a clear and concise report of a victim's
condition to emergency or rescue personnel?
If you answered no, or even hesitated in answering yes to any of the above
questions, I strongly encourage you look into attending a Wilderness First
Aid Class. It helps you prepare for possible emergency situations when
you are in the woods away from immediate medical assistance. The training
you receive could mean the difference between a life or death situation.
I have had basic first aid training at my workplace and have both attended
and taught classes in primitive and survival skills since the late 1990's.
Nothing compared to the 18 hour Wilderness First Aid class presented by
Chris Tate that I attended. According to Chris: "Wilderness First
Aid is a comprehensive lesson in how to react, respond, and save life
in remote, life threatening situations."
Through the classroom instruction and practical outdoor simulations, we
learned how to respond to various wilderness emergencies. The course covers
a wide range of subjects from soft tissue injuries to lightning strikes.
For equipment we had no fancy medical kits, only the equipment that we
normally take on an outing to the woods. From this we learned the art
of improvising the necessary medical gear we need to treat injured victims.
The use of outdoors simulations is an exceptional teaching tool. After
the simulated rescue is completed both the volunteer patients and their
rescuers critique the experience from their respective viewpoints. This
allows the opportunity for valuable feedback that may not be normally
available. Additionally the situations are based upon actual emergency
cases so that the students can see how the real incident was handled.
It was an exceptional class, with a well-prepared instructor and excellent
practical course content.
The class will easily build your self-confidence in handling a possible
emergency situation when outdoors.
No previous experience is necessary and when completed you will receive
a certification good for two years.
For more information please check out the Wilderness First Aid website
at http://wfa.net or phone (703) 836-8905.
This article first appeared in Great Outdoors Magazine, Spring 2003
issue. Patrick Folsom runs the Full Circle Awareness Center in New Castle,
Delaware. This material may be freely distributed for nonprofit educational
use. However, if quoted in publications, written or electronic, attribution
must be made to the author. Commercial use of this material is prohibited
without express written permission from the author. Copyright 2004 Patrick
Folsom.
