Aches and Pains

Check out Dr. Gus Benner's answers to Aches and Pains (Gus Benner is the National Outings Medical Advisor). 

To read more interesting and informative medical articles, please visit the Medical Library.

Wilderness First Responder and Recertification Courses in May!

Come join us at Clair Tappaan Lodge for a WFR and WFR-Recertification course this May:

• WFR-R May 4-6, 2013. 
• WFR May 18-27, 2013.

Food and lodging available for both courses as well!

To learn more and register: http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/training/calendar.aspx

Snakes, lightning and Ankles, oh my!

Check out these National Outdoor Leadership School videos:

North American Snakebites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXjj52KyXes&feature=plcp

Lightning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVSCD1mdzY0&feature=relmfu

Usable Ankle Injury - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SSZd5TtbXQ

 

Yosemite National Park SAR Reports

Check out the Yosemite SAR Reports page to see what incidents have been happening and how they have been handled.

Wilderness First Responder and NOLS Wilderness Medicine Texts Now Available on Kindle!

If you are technologically inclined, a variety of wilderness medicine texts are now available on Kindle via Amazon:

• The Wilderness First Responder by Buck Tilton
• NOLS Wilderness Medicine by Tod Schimmelpfennig
• ...and other texts by NOLS

Newly Revised Medical Form Now Available!

Many thanks to leaders who contributed to the newly revised Medical Form. Check out the new version here: http://www.sierraclub.org/outings/national/participantforms/forms/medical.pdf  (Note: this form is available from any of the Outings-Forms pages).

Updated! How are your Patient Assessment and Focused Spine Assessment Skills?

Check out this educational Patient Assessment YouTube video and Focused Spine Assessment YouTube Video from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS.  

How are your skills?

Visit the First Aid Course Description and Sierra Club First Aid Provider list to find a new or refresher course in your area.

Medical Library - New Article on Altitude

Check out Dr. Gus Benner's answers to altitude questions (Gus Benner is the National Outings Medical Adviser). 

Here are additional altitude related articles:

• Altitude Illness Prevention Protocol
• Altitude Illness Primer
• The Amazing Process of Acclimitization

To read more interesting and informative medical articles, please visit the Medical Library.

Serve Outdoors 2011

This month, the Sierra Club launches its second annual Serve Outdoors initiative.  Throughout the month of September, the Sierra Club is proud to join Americans in communities across the country in honoring those who bravely serve our nation by volunteering to help clean up and preserve our great outdoors for future generations.

Every day, our youth and outings programs successfully reach new audiences, including young leaders, veterans, military families and diverse communities.  Through Serve Outdoors, Building Bridges to the Outdoors, Inner City Outings, Local Outings, Military Families Outdoors, Sierra Student Coalition, and Water Sentinels will lead the effort to expand upon and showcase this work by continuing to highlight the power of service and the needs within these communities.

America's great outdoors is a cornerstone of our national heritage, but it's also a refuge for armed services members returning from overseas, firefighters taking a much needed break from work, and families facing tough economic realities. Here at the Sierra Club, we will honor the service of our fellow Americans by committing our own time and effort for the protection of these precious wild places.

Last year, Serve Outdoors engaged Sierra Club members, partners, and supporters nationwide at more than 100 events in 36 states, DC, and Puerto Rico on September 11th, the National Day of Service and Remembrance.  This year's projects will be largely youth-driven, ranging from watershed restoration around streams to weatherization in low-income neighborhoods to cleaning up neighborhood parks.  

Serve Outdoors is an important part of our efforts to honor those who serve and provide opportunities to reach new communities through service.  Please take a moment to check out the Serve Outdoors events page and share it with your neighbors and community allies.

Thank you,
Sarah Hodgdon
Director of Conservation 

Update: Alaska Bear Attack News

Check out Craig Medred's articles in Alaska Dispatch to learn more about the National Outdoor Leadership School students bear attack:

• Alaska bear attack: NOLS kids did a 'phenomenal job'
• Myth-busting an Alaska bear attack
• New: Anatomy of an Alaska Bear Mauling Rescue

Here are the Alaska Subcommittee Co-Chair Holly Wenger's thoughts:

By now likely most of us have heard about this incident in the Talkeetna mountains.  I have been reading other accounts as well.  Some things I am thinking about in regards to discussing bears and our travel in bear country with participants: 1.  It seems the bear in this incident did not perceive the group size, and likely perceived just the lead hiker as an individual threat at the first startled moment. 2.  The "group" in the incident was actually a single-file line of hikers, 2 out in front of others.  In general, I still believe that a bear who is presented with a group (all together) of 4 or more will cause the bear to move away from the group. 3.  It was reported that the group was "yelling."  I am not sure what this means.  They were in a stream and needed to be heard over the noise of water.  Clear human conversation rather than misc. yelling, ringing of bells, etc is what clues a bear to the presence of humans, whom bears will then generally respond to as co-predators they want to avoid.  4.  When hiking in areas where we cannot clearly see what's afoot, and bears cannot clearly see us, we must really think:  Which way is the wind blowing?  Can any bears smell us coming?  Are there "blind" curves, and if so is the group making appropriate human noise to announce its presence, and is the group truly together?  Is there any alternative to risky routes? 5.  Bears hate surprises.  Do everything possible to avoid surprising a bear. 6.  No one in the group had time to get out their pepper spray.  Are we carrying ours outside of packs, truly ready? 7.  After attacking one person, that boy then moved to try to set off an emergency beacon (I assume something like an e-pirb).  The bear returned to resume the attack.  This person was the most seriously injured.  We need to tell folks that if a physical attack ever occurs from a grizzly, they must play dead and remain in that pose for quite some time:  5 - 10 minutes.  There have been a number of incidents of grizzly attacks where the person moved or got up too soon after the attack, and the bear was right back on them, usually more viciously than the first time. 8.  These young people did a great job with first aid.  One was a WFR. 9.  Even with all best training, intent, etc, traveling in bear country has inherent risks.  By being as best informed as possible we can diminish the risks greatly, but they will never be zero.  10.  My favorite book on the topic is a slim, quick read I go through every year before I head into the field:  backcountry Bear Basics: The Definitive Guide to Avoiding Unpleasant Encounters.  Dave Smith.  The Mountaineers.  Dave shares my philosophy of being appropriately pro-active in bear country, yet understanding the need that bears have to fatten up and to experience solitude free of human disruption to their routines.  We don't need to chatter mindlessly everywhere we go and at every moment: the terrain and wind/weather conditions dictate what our behavior should be.