Wilderness first aid

Wilderness first aid is the provision of first aid (q.v.) under conditions where the arrival of emergency responders or the evacuation of an injured person may be delayed due to constraints of terrain, weather, and available equipment. It may be necessary to care for an injured person for several hours or days.

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In the United States, Wilderness First Aid (WFA) is the name of a certification in Wilderness Medicine that covers wilderness first aid; depending on the laws applicable where it is practiced, it may impose specific responsibilities and confer specific immunities on duly-diligent practitioners. For instance, the practicing of certain rules of WFA, by someone certified in the usual "street" First Aid discipline but not in WFA (or a higher Wilderness Medicine qualification), could result in civil liability or perhaps even criminal prosecution.

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A classic problem is whether to leave an injured person or stay if only one person is ambulatory. Barring special circumstances, the injured one should be stabilized, placed in shelter, and marked in a way visible from the air (usually a single, long line of cut brush or trampled snow). Then the injured one should be left alone, while the other goes for help.

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If there are three or more, the healthy group should be split into halves by speed, with the fastest going for help, and the others remaining to make the preparations. (In a party of four, it would be a rare hiker who would be better sent for help alone, rather than sent in a sub-party of two.)

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Ensuring the rescuers can find the injured person is crucial. If a personal locator beacon is available, it should be triggered and placed with the injured person. If enough help is available, air-visible markings may be worthwhile. Where surveyor's tape is available within the party (and assuming clear trails are available), it should be used by the sub-party going for help, to back up memory and notes with tape-flagging of the toward-the-injury-location choices of trail at intersections. (When an injury location is off clear trails, by distances that make it impractical to keep blazes of tape within sight of each other, forks in watercourses should be treated as substitutes for trail intersections.)

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See medical emergency for a list of medical emergencies and specific guidance directed towards first-aiders, Outdoor Emergency Care technicians and EMTs, often including evacuation criteria.

Related Topics:
Medical emergency - Outdoor Emergency Care - EMT - Evacuation

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Training in wilderness first aid is available. Any group of persons traveling in wilderness should have at least one person trained in wilderness first aid and carry a first aid kit designed for the area they are traveling in.

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Nursing care is not part of normal first aid but is part of wilderness first aid.

Related Topics:
Nursing - First aid

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