Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board First-Aid Kit Recommendations?

Hey:

Yes, I kinda/sorta remember that. I think I made a mistake or at least can't imagine saying 60 was OK. The LCD on the one I got is really hard to read in daylight and I vaguely remember after I left you thinking "oooops." 60 would be way too low no matter what. The couple of people I saw later with 65 & 67 were in severe HAPE. Most everyone else was over about 87, upright & talking, though sometimes with mild AMS.

I think it was after I saw you guys that I ran into another young boy who I thought was having "just" a mild case of AMS. I did recommend, though, that they stay at Charlotte until we were sure. Good thing. Within 8 hours he was acute and had to be flown out. I'm now a lot more paranoid about AMS and especially in young boys, who seem to have a higher statistical tendency towards HAPE.

On the bright side, and especially when I first started using it, I didn't use it for diagnostics, just trying to get a feel for what the number meant compared to what the person described and looked like. When they're belly up and gasping, I don't really need the number to tell me things are not going well. I thought it might help for the more marginal cases, and it might, but I still don't have a feel for it yet. Nothing like being on a learning curve... .

g.

More:

Ken & Bob bring up even more important points than just having the first aid kit, of course. Knowing how to use it and having a plan (and knowledge) of how to use it and what to do if you need help. I'd also add it's really important to pull your kit out before every trip, not only to see if everything's there, but to remind yourself what's there so you remember to use it when needed. It's embarrassing the number of times I've had something that would make a first aid or SAR go better but failed to remember I had it (smoke flare or foil shelter, for instance...).

The critical part is recognizing when you have to go to Plan II -- getting help. A huge number of people wait too long. They're worried about having to change trip plans on a once-a-year trip; or assuming that it's some mild AMS or injury that'll work itself out. No question this is a difficult one to figure out. A good Wilderness First Aid course might help.

Trauma is usually obvious. The person can either walk or not, though you do have to worry that you're causing more damage. But things like AMS to HAPE or HACE are much more subtle and potentially dangerous. Same with uncontrolled vomiting. You can really dehydrate and mess up electrolytes if that can't be controlled &/or the fluids and salts replaced. This is where people often wait too long. You need to decide what the plan is when there's daylight enough to get help and get them out. If they're getting worse, you don't want them having to wait another 8 hours overnight-- that can be potentially fatal.

I'm not even familiar enough with either books or courses to recommend anything. But folks here probably know something with a good decision tree in it or a good course to evaluate this sort of thing.

g.

Medicine for Mountaineering by Dr. James Wilkerson is a nice book to have for reference purposes.