Even when you are careful and prepared, people still get into situations where painful, and sometimes life-threatening, first aid issues come up. Remember: the best way to deal with a problem is to avoid coming up against it in the first place.
How to avoid most wilderness-related pain, illnesses, and medical emergencies
- Be prepared. There is a reason this is the BSA motto. All else flows from that. If you have researched your trip plans to know what kind of conditions, animals, and weather you will face; have acquired the skills needed to handle your plans (including first aid); and have packed the 10 essentials and appropriate gear and clothing to deal with likely conditions, you should be able to handle anything short of a natural catastrophe.
- Layer your clothing. This lets you remove or add layers as needed to regulate your body temperature.
- Wear synthetics or wool. COTTON KILLS. When cotton gets wet, it pulls heat from your body, exposing you to dangerous conditions. When performance wear or wool gets wet, you are mostly just uncomfortable, though any wet clothing still lowers body temperature and raises risk.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, frequently sipping throughout the day.
- Rest often. Try not to over-exert yourself. Push hard and challenge yourself, but when you hit your limit, let someone know so we can stop, hydrate, and redistribute load if needed.
- Do not go too far beyond your skill level. Challenging yourself is important, but so is safety. One reason we do things in a group is so you can test limits under experienced supervision.
- Keep an eye on each other. If everyone watches the people around them, everyone gains more than one set of eyes. Also, confusion and reduced cognitive ability are symptoms of many outdoor-related illnesses, so you may not be the best judge of your own condition.
- Do not compound mistakes. When something goes wrong, STOP and fix it before moving on. Few people die in the wilderness from one mistake; they die from many mistakes in a row.