HAFE

The Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City was another highlight of my year, added to greatly by the presence of the awesome trio from Celtic--Kurt, Brian, and Bill. (Celtic, an advertising and public relations firm, designed and maintains this site. Check them out at www.celticinc.com). The people with problems who stopped by the first aid station were as I suspected (see the previous post), and dehydration was especially rampant, a reminder to keep your urine clear or lightly yellow in color.
Someone asked about intestinal gas at higher altitudes. High Altitude Flatus Expulsions (HAFE) is a real and discomforting, though rarely serious, problem for those arriving at upper elevations of Earth. Air in your tummy expands like air trapped in a plastic bag. The products Beano and Gas-X have been shown to help alleviate the discomfort. You and your tentmate might both appreciate the alleviation.

Outdoor Retailer

I leave in a few days for the Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, my 34th stint in the First Aid Station. After thousands of OR patients, most of them non-serious, I know what I'll see: People forgetting some of the basics of a healthy life. They'll wear pretty shoes that rub them the wrong way, they'll dehydrate, they'll fail to get enough rest, and they'll eat way too much and/or something strange to their digestive systems. But, on the other helping hand, it's sort of like job security for me.
I'll be signing free copies of my new book (Knots You Need, totally non-medical) on Aug 8 at 4PM and Aug 9 at 5PM. If you can't drop by, you can always order (and pay for) a copy (www.globepequot.com), and if you do, I thank you.

Season of the Snake

Definitely, there is something unsettling about getting bitten by a venomous snake (or, hey, any snake). But you know one of the most important things you can do, should it happen to you, is stay calm (whether you're the bitten or the rescuer). Someone recently--and creatively--asked could he take a Benadryl (www.benadryl.com) or another antihistamine. Benadryl does have a mild sedative effect. It can help you sleep. I don't, however, think it would help. The over the counter tabs are not strong enough unless you took enough to be dangerous. And if you were able to chemically alter the patient's level of consciousness, you really would not want to. LOC gives evidence of how the patient is handling the emergency. The only definitive treatment for snakebite remains antivenom. Do what you can, non-chemically, to keep the bitten calm--and find a doctor.

Picaridin

Could be the name of a Knight Templar, but picaridin is an insect repellent, available in the U. S. only relatively recently, although it has been on store shelves in Asia, Europe, and Australia for far longer. It is derived from a substance known as piperidine and was first developed by the people who make Bayer. The EPA has approved it for anyone three years old and up. Less irritating than DEET, and with no indication of any toxicity whatsoever, it works about as well, in the only study done so far, as six percent DEET--which means you have to apply it more often than DEET. I just returned from a trip into Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND (I love the Badlands) where mosquitoes were moderately nagging problems, as usual, at dawn and dusk. I used picaridin (www.cutterinsectrepellent.com) and found it not only much more pleasant to use that DEET but satisfyingly effective in the conditions on the trail and in camp.

Back from Alaska

Winter camping in June: There's nothing like it. Temps at night reached, at the lowest, 5 above 0, and the mercury rose at midday to 50 F and more. It was a jungle, without insects, while the snow and ice beneath our tent was estimated to be 4500 feet thick (yep, nearly a mile). Almost everyone who climbs Denali gets off an airplane that landed on the Southeast Fork of the Kahiltna Glacier at about 7300 feet elevation--a few feet from the ranger tent where I was working (and sometimes just relaxing). They also almost all leave the mountain there, except for two young Japanese climbers who, this year, disappeared and failed to reappear after ten days of intensive searching--bringing the historical total to 100 dead on Denali. But two others were found, and, with other patients, I had a chance to splint arms, patch wounds, inspect and pontificate on frostbite, melt a ton of snow for water, and wax poetical on what is absolutely one of the most beautiful spots on this planet. Not a bad summer vacation.

Off to Denali

Early tomorrow, May 28, I fly to Alaska where I'll, once again, be a volunteer on the snowy slopes of Denali (www.nps.gov/dena/). The work: Hang out at base camp near 7000 feet elevation on the Kahiltna Glacier in case a climber needs wilderness medicine and/or rescue. I will be hanging out with Daryl Miller, the ranger who has made more contributions to mountain search and rescue than any other person, living or dead. With no access to the wonders of blogging, it will be about three weeks before you see from me. In the meantime, stay well.

Burns: The Sweet Truth

Bee better faster after a burn. How? The International Journal of Lower Extremity Wounds, in a review of 15 studies, gives the answer: honey (http://ijl.sagepub.com). Burned skin recovered faster, up to four times faster, covered with honey instead of antibiotic creams and modern burn dressings. A natural anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory, honey eases the ouch while it promotes healing. The process: Cool the burn, smear honey on gauze, apply it to the burn, change the sweet dressing twice a day. Find a doc if the burn is serious. And, if you don't spread the honey on gauze, you can spread it on a cracker.