Andrew posted about the organization MedWAR (Medical Wilderness Adventure Race) back in May. At that time the nearest scheduled race was in Michigan. Since then, they have added a race at a new location: just south of Cumberland Gap in Tennessee! It's only about 2.5 hours away from Lexington. If anyone is interested in signing up a team, the race is on November 7th and the registration deadline is October 24th. It costs $150 for a team of three (which includes camping fee, dinner, and a T-shirt). More information can be found at:
Here are some more books about wilderness medicine or the world in general.
Where There is No Doctor
by David Werner
The Worst Journey in the World
by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues
by Paul Farmer
The World is Flat
by Thomas Friedman
Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Body and Mind at the Limits of Human Endurance
by Kenneth Kamler
Three Cups of Tea
by Greg Moretenson
Wilderness Medicine
by Paul Auerbach
Everyone is invited to WMIG's next meeting on September 21st at noon in MN-363.
Faculty Co-sponsor, Dr. Greg Davis, will be speaking to us about altitude sickness, high altitude cerebral edema (HACE), and high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE). So before you go to the high places on holiday breaks from classes, learn what subtleties can alert you to altitude-related sickness! Check out this link from a British Expedition Medicine website describing these conditions.
Also, we will be holding elections for 2009 - 2010 officers at this meeting. You need to be a member (dues $15) to vote, and please email Stacey Gutman (slgutm2@uky.edu) before Wednesday (Sept. 16th) if you plan to run.
Lunch will be provided at the meeting, but you may want to bring a drink. Please email Stacey to RSVP before Friday (Sept. 18th) if you plan to attend the meeting. Hope to see you there!
If you are starting to feel the daily grind of classes wear you down, try one of these books about either wilderness medicine, international medicine, or traveling to give your mind a reprieve.
Leave any suggestions in the comments....
Doctor on Everest: Emergency Medicine at the Top of the World
by Kenneth Kamler
Or Perish in the Attempt: Wilderness Medicine in the Lewis & Clark Expedition
by David Peck
Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor
by Paul Farmer
Mountain Rescue Doctor: Wilderness Medicine in the Extremes of Nature
by Christopher Van Tilburg
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, the Man Who Would Cure the World
by Tracey Kidder
To Build a Fire (short story, available online)
by Jack London
More to come later...
Note: I haven't read all of these yet; I'm just passing on some suggestions.
Join us at noon on August 27th in MN-263 for WMIG's first meeting of the year.
Dr. Rebecca Bowers from the department of Emergency Medicine and our faculty sponsor will be speaking to us. She will give a little introduction to Wilderness Medicine and how it relates to one's practice. Then she will explain the Advanced Wilderness Life Support (AWLS) certification which she completed this summer (I did too, see previous post). After that, she will give us a lecture on land envenomations!
Come learn a little about UK's Wilderness Medicine Interest Group and how you can make enjoying the outdoors a part of your practice. Lunch will be provided. Also, yearly dues are $15 for those interested in joining.
Please RSVP by Tuesday (August 25) to Stacey Gutman at slgutm2@uky.edu
Who: Dr. Rebecca Bowers, Department of Emergency Medicine, faculty sponsor of WMIG
What: Intro to Wilderness Medicine, AWLS, and land envenomations
When: Noon, August 27th, 2009
Where: MN-263
We are honored to be joined again by Dr. Greg Davis from the Department of Pathology. We invited him back after his great talk about hypothermia at our February meeting. This month, he will be discussing two topics: the psychological effects of search and rescue on the rescuer and the victim, and hyperthermia. He will also have a Q&A session, so come with questions about wilderness medicine! As usual, lunch is provided. You may want to bring a drink.
Please RSVP by Tuesday (May 19) to Stacey Gutman at slgutm2@uky.edu .
Who: Dr. Greg Davis, Department of Pathology
What: psychological effects of a rescue / hyperthermia
When: Thursday, May 21st at noon
Where: MN-263
I came across this website for a very cool looking adventure race series called MedWAR.
http://www.medwar.org/index.htm
Enjoy some pics from our latest adventure:
Also here is a link to some more pics from my Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080006&id=7200771
Erik Weihenmayer was the first blind person to summit Everest in 2001. He completed the Seven Summits (highest peak on each continent) in 2002. He is also a skydiver, marathon runner, and bike rider. He lives life without limitations.
The WMIG is headed down to the Ocoee River in TN on Saturday, April 4th. We will be spending a half-day rafting down a scenic strech of river with 17 class III-IV rapids! We are meeting at Quest Expeditions at 10:45am and will be returning at 2:15pm. After the rafting, Dr. Dillman (from the Seneca Lakes Family Medicine Residency Program in SC) is leading a field workshop on water-borne pathogens and water purification. Most of us are heading down to car camp at the Chilhowee campgrounds in Cherokee National Forest on Friday afternoon. It is a 4.5 hour drive and folks are planning on carpooling. If Friday does not work for you, feel free to come down on Sat morning just for the rafting and workshop.
Dr. Bowers (our faculty advisor) passed along a great opportunity from the Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine. The PCSOM Emergency Medicine Club is sponsoring a Wilderness First Aid course on April 25th and 26th for $110 (a bargin by national standards).
Our faculty advisor, Dr. Rebecca Bowers, from the department of Emergency Medicine, will be joining us on Thursday, March 12th to discuss marine envenomations. This should be a very helpful talk for those heading to warmer climates during spring break. Does peeing on a jellyfish sting really work? Come find out, and learn much more at the next WMIG meeting.
Please RSVP to Stacey Gutman slgutm2@uky.edu by Tuesday, 3/10
Lunch will be provided; you may want to bring a drink.
Who: Dr. Rebecca Bowers from Emergency Medicine
What: Marine Envenomations
When: Thursday, March 12th at noon
Where: MN-563
HERE is a great reading source from Dr. Paul Auerbach
Have any interest in learning how to roll a kayak? If you want to learn from trained instructors in a controlled environment, then the Bluegrass Wildwater Association's Roll Sessions are for you. 
Hosted at the North Lexington Family YMCA at 381 W Loudon Ave, clinics are scheduled nearly every Sunday night from 7pm to 9pm. It costs $5 for BWA members, and $10 for non-members. Bring your own gear if you have it, but BWA usually provides extra boats, spray skirts, and paddles.
Check out their web-site for more information.
http://www.surfky-bwa.org/index.html
With the help of the sensationalized media attention that human-bear encounters garner, bears often suffer the repercussions of our irrational fears and misconceptions.
Bears are curious and intelligent animals that deserve our respect and attention. Some basic knowledge of bear behavior and an awareness of your surroundings keeps the likelihood of an encounter at a minimum. According to Dr. Steve French, the guy who authored the chapter on bear behavior and attacks in the textbook Wilderness Medicine, there are a set of basic rules for avoiding a bear attack in the wilderness:
1. Do not corner or provoke a bear.
2. Never approach an animal when it is with young.
3. Do not disturb a feeding animal. Do not explore into its feeding territory or disrupt mating patterns.
4. In bear country, hang all food off the ground in trees away from the campsite. Never keep food or captured game inside a tent. Use proper food storage to keep food away from bears. Cook at a site away from the sleeping area. Do not sleep in clothes worn while cooking or eating.
5. Make noise when hiking, particularly on narrow paths or through tall grass. If you confront a brown (grizzly) bear, avoid eye contact and try to slowly back away. If you confront a black bear, shout, yell, throw rocks or sticks, or do whatever you can to frighten off the animal.
6. If attacked by a bear, do not try to outrun it - you can’t. Cover your head and the back of your neck with your arms and curl into a fetal position or lay flat on the ground, face down, in order to protect your abdomen. If you are wearing a backpack, keep it on for additional protection. Use your elbows to cover your face if a bear turns you over. After a bear attack, remain on the ground until you are certain that the bear has left the area. More than one victim has successfully protected himself during the initial attack, only to arise too soon (before the bear has lost interest and left the area) and be mauled during the second attack.
Most people who see a bear in the wild consider it the highlight of their trip. Armed with some basic knowledge of bear behavior and how to handle an encounter, the presence of a bear need only be a reminder of how privileged we are to share wild spaces with these animals.
Who: Dr. Greg Davis, Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist
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