Expedition and Wilderness Medicine

This is the most practical, concise guide to medical practice in extreme and remote environments. With an increase in visits to remote and dangerous locations around the world, the number of serious and fatal injuries and illnesses associated with these expeditions has markedly increased. Medical personnel working in or near such locations are not always explicitly trained in the management of unique environmental injuries, including high-altitude sickness, the bends, lightning strikes, frostbite, acute dehydration, venomous stings and bites, and tropical diseases. Many health care professionals seek training in the specialty of wilderness medicine to cope with the health risks faced when far removed from professional care resources, and the American College of Emergency Medicine has recently mandated that a minimum level of proficiency needs to be exhibited by all ER physicians in this discipline. This book covers everything a prospective field physician or medical consultant needs to prepare for when beginning an expedition and explains how to treat a variety of conditions in a concise, clinically oriented format.