MOUNTAINEERING INFORMATION ARTICLES

First Aid for Mountaineering & other Outdoor Activities

Generally speaking, your risks of getting injured is higher when you are engaged in Mountaineering or in any other Outdoor Activity than in your everyday life. Thus, it is very important and necessary that you have at least some basic knowledge on First Aid - how to detect, treat, and prevent various illnesses. Likewise, if you have the basics of First Aid, you will not get into panic and you will know what to do in case situations call for it.

The information given in this section is in no way complete but will give you some of the basics of First Aid.

	First Aid Basics Regardless of the emergency situation you find yourself in, you should be equipped with the basics of performing first aid. Familiarize yourself with the ways of how to respond to emergency situations through this section. It may not involve complex tasks as doctors would but it can keep the victim's situation from getting worse.
	Bleedings & Tourniquets Severe bleeding caused by severed veins or arteries can be fatal if not treated immediately. You should know how to stop it when that happens. Meanwhile, detecting bleeding is even harder in cases of internal injuries. With the help of this section and the proper training, you will be able to learn how to treat them.
	Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) If after checking the patient's vital signs you find out that he/she is not breathing or has no heartbeat, try to perform CPR on the patient. But before following the steps written down in this section, take note that those cannot be taken as substitute for the proper and actual training given by medical professionals.
	Fractures & Applying Splints There are unfortunate instances when somebody in your group falls hard enough and fractures a bone. It can be a literally painful experience so therefore you should know how to apply a splint to the injured area and prevent it from getting worse. This section tells you how to treat different kinds of fractures. Read on.
	Frostnip & Frostbite Frostbite and frostnip happen when a part of the body become exposed to the cold for a very long time. Some of the specially affected areas include the toes, fingers and earlobes. But this can be treated and even prevented from happening by following the guidelines found in this section.
	Hypothermia Hypothermia is a serious medical condition that is similar to frostbite, wherein the patient has been overexposed to extremely cold temperature. It is not enough just to keep the victim warm with a thick blanket, he/she also needs to be internally warmed through the method found in this section.
	Heat Exhaustion & Heat Stroke The two previous sections discussed that overexposure to cold weather makes you vulnerable to frostbite, frostnip and hypothermia. In very hot temperature, you become vulnerable to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Learn how to diagnose, treat and most importantly, prevent those from happening by reading this section.
	Neck & Spinal Injuries Emergency conditions which involve neck and spinal injuries must be treated with great care and caution because if improperly handled, it could paralyze the victim. It is therefore important to know how to handle situations like these and to seek medical assistance as soon as possible. This section shows you how.
	Sprains & Strains Sprains, though not life-threatening, can cause a lot of discomfort on the patient especially in worst cases. It is your responsibility to alleviate the pain by following the guidelines outlined in this section. However, before making in steps of treating it, make sure that what happened is just a case of sprain and not fractured bones.

The sections above dealt with different emergency conditions that you may encounter whenever you are in the outdoors. Aside from that, they also dealt with ways of treating them and preventing the situation from getting worse. Most importantly, a section focuses on how to seek for help when faced with emergency situations. Remember that first aid is not the remedy itself but just a response to an emergency while medical help is on its way.

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