Medical wilderness response | 07.26.2007 | 07:17:20 | Views: 5956 | ID: July 26 '07: The Wall Street Journal reported that medical schools and emergency response programs have added wilderness-medicine to their curricula. Medical officials say as more people enjoy outdoor activities and with an increase in disasters in remote locations, it is important that response operations are able to incorporate wilderness scenarios. Paul Auerbach, professor of surgery in the emergency department at Stanford University School of Medicine and a co-founder of the Wilderness Medicine Society told the WSJ, "People of all walks of life and all skills are going out into increasingly harsh and remote environments in every-increasing nuymbers, and encountering situations both common and unique for which they are not adequately prepared." The wilderness society's annual conferences highlight best practices in remote locations all over the world. "Such experts," the WSJ reported, "are also working with disaster-preparedness groups and the military on helping victims of natural disasters or combat casualties." "They can convey an arsenal of improvisational techniques for use in locations far from modern facilities - such as tying scalp lacerations with a victim's hair and dental floss, using a kayak paddle to make a splint, or immobilizing a neck injury with a fanny pack and duct tape." Other best practices for outdoor response can be found here.
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