Medicine for the Outdoors

Recombinant Factor VIIa for Rattlesnake Envenomation

2009-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

In a recent issue of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine (Volume 20, Number 2, 2009), Anne-Michelle Ruha and Steven Curry have written an article entitled “Recombinant Factor VIIa for Treatment of Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage Following Rattlesnake Envenomation.” This is a “case report,” meaning that this is a description of a particular medical event, rather than a study. To open the piece, the...

Wilderness Management

2009-11-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

The fourth edition of Wilderness Management, authored by Chad P. Dawson and John C. Hendee and published by Fulcrum Publishing of Golden, Colorado, is a gem. Subtitled Stewardship and Protection of Resources and Values, this book is must-read for anyone involved in natural resources management. Given that the entire concept of wilderness medicine is predicated upon there being wilderness, this...

Thank You to Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities for Grand Rounds

2009-11-03T11:01:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities for mentioning my post about sea urchin spine puncture management in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Jellyfish and Such

2009-10-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth post based upon my presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. In the previous posts, there was information about sharks, stingrays...

Sea Urchins and Such

2009-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the third post based upon my presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. In the previous post, there was information about stingrays and...

Thank You to codeblog for Grand Rounds

2009-10-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Thank you to codeblog for mentioning my post about shark attacks in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Stingrays and Such

2009-10-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the next post based upon my presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. In the previous post, there was information about shark attacks. In...

Shark Attack Review

2009-10-21T05:00:00.001-07:00

This is the next post based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water.”” The topic was an overview of hazardous marine animals and it was delivered by me. Because of the length of the presentation, I am going to divide it into...

Thank You to SHARPBRAINS for Grand Rounds

2009-10-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to SHARPBRAINS for mentioning my post about the Slishman Femur Traction Splint in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Slishman Femur Traction Splint

2009-10-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Every one in a while, an inventor comes up with something remarkable, not only in its ingenuity, but in its simplicity and applicability. Whenever I see something like that, I usually mutter or marvel, "I wish I had thought of that." Such is the case with the original ski pole Slishman Splint, invented by my friend Dr. Sam Slishman. Wilderness medical types are familiar with the difficulties...

Conservation Biology: Evolution in Action

2009-10-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Scott Carroll and Charles Fox have edited an excellent book entitled Conservation Biology: Evolution in Action. The publisher is Oxford University Press (2008). As stated in the Preface, the thesis is that "at no time in the nearly four billion years since the origin of life on earth has our planet seen such tremendous environmental change." Even taking into account the major mass extinctions in...

Wilderness Water

2009-10-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the next post based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Wilderness Water: From Lowland Jungles to High Elevation Mountains.” It was delivered by one of the gurus of wilderness water – Robert W. Derlet, MD, who is a Professor in the School of Medicine at the University of...

NOLS CME Expeditions for Medical Professionals

2009-10-07T05:00:00.001-07:00

At the Wilderness Medical Society summer annual meeting, I chatted with Shana Tarter, who is affiliated with the Wilderness Medicine Institute (WMI) of the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), headquartered in Lander, Wyoming. She informed me of an exciting program of WMI: Continuing Medical Education (CME) Expeditions for Medical Professionals. WMI has recently finished its first...

Thank You to Pallimed for Grand Rounds

2009-10-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Pallimed for mentioning my brief post about mycobacterial contamination of tattoos in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Charles Houston Remembered

2009-10-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

In the field of wilderness medicine, I have had many mentors. One of the first, and in many ways the most important to me, was Dr. Charles Houston, who died on Sunday, September 27, 2009 in Burlington, Vermont at the age of 96. Many of us are indebted to this icon of mountain medicine, for he was a true friend, inspirational leader, and like other remarkable physician adventurers of his era,...

Heat-Related Illnesses

2009-10-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the next post based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Heat Related Illnesses.” It was delivered by Flavio Gaudio, M.D. from Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Dr. Gaudio is a very enthusiastic and articulate physician with great expertise in wilderness...

Thank You to Laika's MedLibLog for Grand Rounds

2009-09-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Laika's MedLibLog for mentioning my post about nutrition needs for rescuers and the rescued in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Wilderness Medicine Tattoo

2009-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Many years back, Dr. Kenneth Kizer and I performed original research and published on the bacteriology of the aquatic environment, both marine and freshwater, to help guide antibiotic selection for persons who developed infections related to seawater or natural freshwater. Among other microorganisms we cultured from seawater was Mycobacterium marinum, which sometimes causes a distinct clinical...

ClearEars

2009-09-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Swimmer’s ear (otitis externa) is an affliction that affects scuba divers, swimmers, windsurfers, surfers, kayakers and many others who spend considerable time in the water. The prevailing opinion is that the most effective measure to prevent swimmer’s ear is to dry out the ears after each entry into the water, to eliminate the moisture that promotes maceration of skin and proliferation of...

Thank You to RESIDENCY NOTES for Grand Rounds

2009-09-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you to RESIDENCY NOTES for mentioning my post about vitamin C and gout in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Nutrition Needs for Rescuers and the Rescued

2009-09-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the next post based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Special Nutrition Needs for the Rescued (and the Rescuer!).” It was delivered by Eldon “Wayne” Askew, PhD from the University of Utah. The objectives of the presentation were to emphasize the medical and...

Vitamin C and Gout

2009-09-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

This past month, I saw a couple of patients in the emergency department who suffered from gout. When I was a medical student at Duke in the early 1970s, we commonly encountered patients with this disease, because of epidemiological factors that clustered in the southeastern U.S. Today on the west coast, we don't encounter it as commonly. However, for those persons who suffer from gout, it's a big...

Thank You to Suture for a Living for Grand Rounds

2009-09-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Suture for a Living for mentioning my post about an important water filtration device in this week's Grand Rounds. Grand Rounds is a weekly compilation of health care posts from around the web compiled by a host, who goes to great lengths to make the collection informative and entertaining.

Tips on Trauma and Orthopedics

2009-09-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

This is the next post based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was about trauma and orthopedics. It was delivered by Douglass Weiss, MD of Teton Orthopaedics in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Utilizing some fabulous images, including those of Lanny Johnson, Dr. Weiss made some important points....

Sawyer Point One Filter

2009-09-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

Water disinfection is unquestionably one of the most important public health strategies to prevent communicable diseases. In most industrialized countries, pure drinking water is taken for granted. Traveling to less well developed locations, and certainly in the wilderness, it readily becomes apparent that drinking water is not a commodity - it is a precious essential. Sawyer Products has...