Sandia Ski Area Hypothermia Lab

Next week the faculty of Mountain and Marine Medicine will accompany students of the Wilderness International and Improvisational Medicine Course to the Sandia Ski area. There, we lecture on hypothermia and frostbite, among other topics. At right is photo of a volunteer who was (temporarily) underdressed for the elements. Faculty and students have "chilled" outside for a few minutes. Students then practice rapidly rewarming these "victims" in a hypothermia wrap and plentiful hot chocolate.

Students who will be joining us should look at this gear list:

Outdoor snow gear - ski wear - sunglasses/screen -swimsuit for some!
Daypack
Ski area: Alpine/Telemark or Snowboards
Backcountry: X-country skis or Snowshoes
Bring or buy lunch/drinks
You may rent cross-country skis/snowshoes at REI - (505) 247-1191
Other gear at Sportz Outdoor (505) 837-9400
Ski Systems (505) 296-9111
UNM outdoor shop 277-8182

Joe Alcock MD
www.mmmedicine.com

Travel Medicine Case (?)

This is the case of a 44 year old male who presented to an Albuquerque hospital after passing a pale 1 meter long parasite. Pictured at right is the worm, which has the appearance of fresh linguine.

The specimen was taken to the lab where it was placed in fixative and then sent to the hospital media department for photographs.

History revealed that the man had not in fact traveled, but was an aficionado of fresh seafood. Additional questioning revealed that he had enjoyed salmon sushi, made at home, prepared from fresh fish. It is unknown whether he used wasabi or a fine sake with his meal!

As for the parasite ID:
Click here to see what happened to our patient:
Answer

When the UNM Wilderness Medicine Course begins next week - we will start by explaining the general approach to wilderness medicine patients: The Scene size-up. The scene size-up has three components: First - Check the scene safety - Is it safe for rescuers to approach and attend to victims. Second - Assess the mechanism of injury - Consider what injury patterns might arise from such a mechanism. Third - Find how many victims are involved - the number of injured persons has large consequences for the rescue effort.

Go to the UNM website for additional information about our March Wilderness Medicine course!

UNM Wilderness Medicine

Hope to see you soon!

Joe Alcock MD
www.mmmedicine.com

Brand New Website

You can find our listing of wilderness medicine CME courses at our brand spanking new website:
http://www.mmmedicine.com/index.cfm
Be sure to bookmark the page!

Joe Alcock MD

UNM Wilderness Medicine Course News

In a little more than 1 week, Darryl Macias MD and I will welcome 20 students for the University of New Mexico's Wilderness International & Improvisational Medicine Course! The first week of the course will take students to the Sandia Mountains for high desert hiking and backcountry and alpine skiing adventures. Each excursion has a heavy didactic component and features scenario-based learning. We will end the week with a visit to the BATCAVE, a computer-driven human mannequin that allows students to practice life-saving techniques in wilderness cardiac and respiratory arrest scenarios. Later, we will visit a backcountry yurt in Taos, the remote desert of north central New Mexico (pictured above), and the canyon country of Utah! Visit this blog for upcoming updates as we track our progress through the month!

Joe Alcock MD
www.mmmedicine.com

New Logo

Mountain & Marine Medicine has a new Logo! Among the many new developments at Mountain & Marine Medicine (M3) is this new image that will soon be emblazoned on new T shirts and other M3 merchandise. Email us for details!
www.mmmedicine.com/contact/

Many props go to our new web designer, Joe Black, for this well-produced emblem that conveys what Mountain and Marine Medicine is all about. Thanks, Joe!

Visit this site frequently for lots of new and exciting changes at M3!!!

Joe Alcock MD

Wilderness Medicine Course pictures can be found at our new Mountain & Marine Medicine Multimedia Page:
http://www.mmmedicine.com/multimedia/
Pictured here is a workshop from our High Altitude and Mountain Medicine Course on Mont Blanc!

Joe Alcock MD

Wilderness Medicine Tip of the Week

This is a New Feature of the Mountain & Marine Medicine Blog:
Each week we will publish a wilderness medicine "pearl", explaining priorities of caring for patients in the out of doors.

Wilderness Medicine Tip of the Week!

Foot fractures are common injuries among climbers, as in this example of a 29 year old male who fell while bouldering.

Calcaneus fractures can be obvious as in the radiograph above, or they can be subtle. The inability to bear weight is an important clue. However, don't forget to finish your exam. Rapid deceleration from a fall from height delivers energy sufficient to break bones elsewhere in the body. This week's tip: 10% of patients with a calcaneus fracture will have a lumbar spine compression fracture. Always protect the victim's neck and back & examine the spine for tenderness!

Check back next week for more! And don't forget to visit
www.MMMedicine.com for great wilderness medicine adventures!

Joe Alcock MD

UNM Wilderness, Improvisational and International Medicine 2008

Hello from Albuquerque to all taking the March class!
We are excited to have you come out at the end of February. Things are on track for another OUTSTANDING course-so get ready to learn, live, and laugh! Although I am honing my survival skills a bit (practicing with a bow and drill for firestarting), I have been "checking" out the snow for you as well. The backcountry skiing and snowshoeing is really good this year, and the weather is mild after several weeks of pretty cold weather. Dress properly...we are all meeting at the Copper open space for orientation at 1pm on Feb 25. You should have received a map. Registration will be done first (we will also do a little "accounting" work). Then, on a nice hike. Give us a jingle at 505-272-5062, or email me at dmacias@salud.unm.edu for questions. If you have anything that you would like to learn other than what is on the WIIM website, let us know. And tell your friends and family not to get too jealous while you embark on this fun educational event...
Cheers, aloha, namaste, and hasta...Darryl (Dario)

High Altitude Medicine

High Altitude Medicine - Rainier July 31, 2008 - August 2 2008

Mountain & Marine Medicine LLC 's Rainier High Altitude Course has been endorsed by the American Academy of Emergency Medicine.

And...the course has been approved for AAFP CME credit for 21.75 prescribed credits. See our site for the full statement:
www.mmmedicine.com

Join us for this exciting event in July 2008!