Mountain Rescue Doctor

2008-01-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my Mountain Rescue Doctor blog. Many of you read my book and sent in great emails regarding the stories. I'll try to answer the most popular questions. Feel free to shoot me a quick note at vantilburg@gorge.net.

It's cold and snowy in Hood River. Twice in the last weeks, we've been called out. I threw together my winter gear, and donned five layers of clothing only to be called off or turn around. I think getting all five layers of winter clothes off is more difficult than getting them all on. These days, I wear at least a layer or two of Primaloft, a down-substitute which is warm, light, compressible, and, washable! I'm still a big fan of Patagonia underlayers and merino wool socks! I test lots of outdoor gear and my latest cool find was merino wool/Primaloft blend socks by Fox River! Socks are very important!

Sometimes, the mundane tasks of moutain rescue take the most time. After helping Penny with a 5 a.m. call out a few weeks ago, I really got frustrated that our cell-phone text message system broke down. After an hour on the phone to ATT and a couple days agonizing over the failing system, I finally figured out that two member cell phones didn't make the conversion from Cingular to ATT with text message. As you tech heads know, with group emails, two returned text messages can shut down the whole system. I'm a firm believer that technology should make our lives easier, not more complicated; computers, web bill pay, text messaging, and such should give us more time for a run in the rain, dinner with family, or a few hours ripping turns at the mountain! So, problem solved: we are up and running with text message callout. It's not all drama and excitement!

Some FAQs about the book:

Yes, several chapters don't really say what happens to the patient. That's part of the deal with mountian rescue missions: we hand off the patients to a helicopter or ground ambulance crew and sometimes we never find out the end result.

Many of you, from med students to paramedics, have asked me about a career in wilderness medicine. The short answer is that until you get a few books under your belt, you probably need a day job! Those of us who make part of our living in wilderness medicine do so via consulting, writing, and lecturing. Unless you are in the military or an academic, it may be best to look at wilderness medicine as an adjunct to a career or a superfun hobbie. And you don't need to be a doctor to be an important force in this field. Just check out what my friend Paul Bauger, a ski patroller and avalanche expert, has done with deep snow submersion at http://www.treewelldeepsnowsafety.com/.

If you are intrested in more training in wilderness first aid or medicine, here's what I recommend. If you have no medical experience, take a American Red Cross CPR and first aid class. If you spend time in the backcountry, advanced wilderness first aid is an added bonus. If you work in any capacity in the outdoors--as guide, ski patroller, or park ranger--or if you spend weeks in the backcountry, I recommend either Wilderness First Responder (one week) or Wilderness EMT (one month). Both are excellent courses.

For more info on wilderness medicine, check out http://www.wms.org/ or attend a conference. I'll be faculty speaker this year at: Park City, UT, in February; Snowmass, CO, in July; and Maui, HI, in November, a dive and travel medicine conference I put together with my friend, surfing doc Andrew Nathanson.

Email with questions!

CVT, February 2008