Friday, October 24, 2008

MI and Aspirin

Kate, one of my students at Central Wyoming College (www.cwc.edu), asked in class about the dose of aspirin to give someone who might be experiencing a myocardial infarction (MI). Aspirin, a great drug that's been available over-the-counter since 1897, is certainly recommended when you're thinking, hey, this could be a heart attack. The "blood-thinning" properties of the drug tend to improve the outcome for the patient. Yes, the dose has changed over the years, and remains somewhat controversial, but most experts currently recommend 3-4 baby aspirin (each containing 81 mg) or one adult aspirin (with 325 mg). The aspirin gets to work a bit quicker if the tablets can be chewed before being swallowed with a swig of water. Then keep the patient physically and emotionally at rest until help can be found for an evacuation. If evacuation is delayed into additional days, each day should include more aspirin, once a day, at the same dose.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

One-Ten-One

More than a foot of snow fell on Lander during the past week. It's that time of year when many beloved myths experience a rebirth. One of my favorites says something like this: If you fall into icy water, you might as well give up since hypothermia will kill you in minutes. It just ain't so. What does happen, and how you should respond, is summed up in the words "one minute--ten minutes--one hour," a slogan created by Gordon Giesbrecht, Ph.D., the guru of cold. After a plunge into very cold water, use to first minute to calm yourself and control your breathing. Those who don't are the ones who panic and drown. You then have approximately 10 minutes of useful movement. Use that time attempting to get out of the water or at least figuring out how to stabilize yourself. After 10 minutes, you should remain still to reduce heat loss. You have about one hour before you'll lose consciousness from hypothermia. If you're wearing a PFD, another hour or so will pass before your heart stops from the cold. One-ten-one. Remember it. And for more information read Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuires by Giesbrecht and his co-author James A. Wilkerson, M.D. (www.mountaineersbooks.org).

Friday, October 3, 2008

Air-Drying v. Wiping

Someone concerned about the germs that could be setting up housekeeping on backpacking kitchen gear asked which was better--letting washed gear air-dry or wiping it dry with a cloth. There are several variables here. Some germs may remain viable on wet gear, and wiping them off with a clean cloth gets rid of them. "Clean" is an important word. A grimy rag is less safe than air-drying. But then in areas where the air is dry, such as my home state of Wyoming, moisture on gear dries fast enough to make air-drying perfectly acceptable and probably as safe as drying with a clean cloth. In humid regions, try to keep a clean cloth available, something you can do by washing the bandanna you dried the dishes with after kitchen clean-up.