Wilderness event medicine.
Wilderness & environmental medicine · 2003-01-01 · Observational study
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Wilderness Event Medicine (WEM), that is, the care of large groups of people participating in events in remote areas, is a rapidly growing subspecialty of wilderness medicine. Our goals are to report the injury rates from one wilderness event and to suggest ways to advance this emerging field. METHODS: We describe a 1-day wilderness hike and compare the injury rates from this one event with rates from other urban and wilderness events. RESULTS: Of the total 350 hikers, 6 persons presented for medical evaluation (5 dehydration and 1 orthopedic), yielding a rate of 17 evaluations per 1000 person-days of exposure. Only 1 person (or 2.9 per 1000) required medical assistance beyond oral rehydration. These rates are comparable to rates reported for urban events and other wilderness activities. CONCLUSIONS: According to very limited reports, the rates of injuries in wilderness events are similar to those for urban events. We recommend defining a wilderness event as an event with more than 200 participants and where the time from injury to care at a medical facility is likely to be greater than 1 hour. We also suggest the creation of a database of wilderness events, including standardized terms for the descriptions of activities, terrain, injuries, and medical response. Such a database could be used to help event planners anticipate and perhaps prevent injuries and to prepare effectively for those injuries that do occur.