End of a terrific elective

Yesterday marked our final exam - a multi-casualty rescue scenario in the foothills of the Sandias. My friend Steve and I formed one of three strike teams and went off to find our victim. Unfortunately, she was far away and we soon lost radio contact. Then we had to belay each other up a 20 foot rock face with no grips (easy in 6th grade, much more difficult now!) and using what looked like a hundred year old fiber rope.

Then Steve zip-lined down to get a can with the coordinates of our next victim. Unfortunately again, the zip line was too low and he zipped for 20 feet across, and then right into a cactus. As he scrambled for the message, the rain picked up, lightening started, and the the scenario was called to a screeching halt. But (remember no radio contact), we didn't get the message and were the last to return -- wet, and ready to take on the world of wilderness med? Well, wet at least.

Later that day we had dinner party complete with video and photo montages. It was a terrific month and I think all of us learned a lot, and made at least a few new friends. To anyone reading this thinking of hitting the great outdoors, my advice is: tell someone where you're going, take a cell phone, and if things get bad (or if you run into a maniacal ER doc hopped up on too much mate tea and yelling "DEPLOY, DEPLOY!" improvise!

Backpacking in Utah

Last night I returned from 3 nights in Utah. We rented vans and drove 6 hours up to the Valley of the Gods, a smaller version of Monument Valley. We spent one night there, where I, for the first time in my life, enjoyed my own (rental) tent.

The next day, we split into 3 groups and seven of us plus our director Darryl, his wife, and two adorable children headed off for Grand Gulch, UT. While Darryl and his family moved at their own pace, the seven of us quickly maneuvered down the canyon's gulch. With limestone walls hundreds of feet above us, a sometimes stream, more often a stagnant puddle lining the path, and beautiful Anasazi ruins in the canyon walls, it was easy to pass the day hiking under the hot sun until the shadows grew tall enough to start the evening chill. Pottery shards were abound at the ruin sites and as a testament to the canyonland backpacker spirit, they were displayed together rather than stolen from the sites.

On the first night, we set up camp by a "spring" which took 5 us ten minutes to find, walking along the river bed, looking for a trace of water. Mountain House dehydrated foods have revolutionized camping food. I ate lasagna in meat sauce that night, with a chocolate cheesecake dehydrated dessert that could hardly be rivaled in NYC.

On the next day, Darryl and family took a short cut out and we continued on to do 12 more miles. Worried about not finding more water, we sent a strike team ahead to set up camp by late afternoon and were pleased to find a lively length of steam. Unfortunately, both of our pumps would end up failing by morning. Nevertheless we were sufficiently replenished by the gifted training of our two DO students who did osteopathic manipulations on all our tender points.

Then on day 3, we lost the trail just as we were climbing the rocky path out of the canyon. A second strike team of us scrambled straight up the rock wall with our backpacks on, while the other half turned back to look for the trail. Fortunately, I found the trail head and we managed to pull two of the girls, backpacks first, over the canyon rim. As no one was there to meet us, we found the van, I located the hidden keys, and we stole the van off to meet the group back at Grand Gulch. After a quick admonishment for our independent leadership skills in procuring the van, we drove off through Monument Valley to the Four Corners - which closed at 5 pm so we broke in and had a great time playing twister on four states at the same time.

It was a terrific 24 mile-hike, filled with blisters, scrapes, and one twisted ankle, and a wonderful bonding experience for the seven of us.

Mountain biking

Yesterday, we went mountain biking and learned about bike safety. For example, did you know that road biking is much more dangerous than mountain biking? Every year there are about 900 biking related deaths in the US with the largest accident-prone population being 9-14 year olds.

The trail was a sandy river trail that was more off-roading than mountain biking according to the experts, and definitely not suiting my taste. I like to look around when I bike and when you mountain bike, every bit of your attention goes to making sure you don't hit that root or this rock. Nevertheless, I'll still give real mountain biking a try someday - maybe next saturday.

Today we leave for Grand Gulch, UT, where we will be backpacking and doing rescue scenarios until Tuesday.

Rock Climbing

On Wednesday we drove an hour and a half south of here to Socorro, NM to learn about knots, climbing safety, and of course, to climb. The whole idea of climbing is to put shoes on that are about 2 sizes too small so your feet curl up like a geisha girl's. Then you wrap heavy duty rope around your waist like a diaper and pull that as tightly as you can. Then you climb. I did a 5-7 wall about 40 feet up or so and managed to scrape myself in several key places -- anything for friction. So then I did another smaller climb which was riddled with cacti as an added desert challenge.

Wilderness Survival at Cabezon

I have not written for a few days

because 1. we went on a survival training course/camping trip and 2. I've been pretty laid up with a gastroenteritis that finally has nearly had enough of me as well. This weekend we went out with an ex-paratrooper and wilderness survival instructor who taught us how to start fires with anything from flint and steal to steel wool and a maglite flashlight. He also taught us how to make our own snares for trapping small rodents (very useful in the Bronx) up to jack rabbits - check out my figure four trap which can be expanded large enough to crush a deer (no, I would never!).

On Sunday we learned how to navigate as well.

I was out of commission for the rest of sunday and I missed all of Monday's snake and spider bite activities.

Today, was marine medicine day. We went to the Albuquerque aquarium after hours and learned about dive medicine, poisonous cone shells, sea urchins, jelly fish, fugu, and sting rays among others. Whatever stung you, apparently, peeing on it, doesn't work.

Everything was fine until a diver came up too fast and shot an air embolism to her brain. In this rescue scenario, we had to think about transportation to a hyperbaric chamber.

Then, after a fulfilling lecture on the parasites and bacteria found in sushi, we went out to -- where? -- a Japanese sushi restaurant where the desert city of Albuquerque serves its finest fresh fish. As my first full meal in 3 days, I did pretty well. Actually, we learned that fresh fish is more dangerous than frozen fish and indeed against FDA regulations. Let's just hope it stayed frozen.

3 Days in Taos

(Taos!)

2 Days ago we left for Taos. On the first sunny afternoon, we skied on one of the steepest ski mountains in the Rocky Mountain range. Not a frequent skier, I stuck to the blues, which is more than equivalent to east coast black diamonds. The day was so hot, I was down to a thin shirt and jacket and still hot! Better yet, no falls!

We slept in a hostel in
downtown Taos for the first night. The next morning, we had a lecture on Acute Mountain Sickness. Then we went to the Taos ski resort and had a terrific lecture by the ski mountain doctor of 17 years on High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HACE) and Cerebral Edema (HAPE). By midmorning we were on our way up a mountain that knew only uphill. In what was the most difficult 1 1/2 climb through the snow and heat, I frequently had to stop just to catch my breath. Downtown Taos is at about 9,000 ft, but we climbed to nearly 12,000 feet - high enough to make any marathon runner feel like a CHF-er. By the time we reached the yurt, my pulse-ox was down to 92% and my pulse was at rest over 100.

Some of us decided to build snow caves to sleep in. My construction, suggested by one of the rescue leaders eventually had some problems when we lit the fire, the wind changed direction, and the bed platform filled with smoke and sparks. Unfortunately, I ended up in the yurt. In the morning, clouds came in and a freak snowstorm began. We had a few lectures on foot injuries, avalanche prediction and safety, and

how to locate victims by beacon and without. The snow up there was about 6 feet deep and without snow shoes, you would sink right through. We hiked out in the snow with our snowshoes and poles, spent a good hour recovering in a natural hot spring, and had a good three hour drive back to ABQ.























































































(Dr. Macias, despite the impending blizzard tells us about pitch wood and its use in starting fires or signaling due to the turpentine content.)









(Micha teaches us how to how to predict avalanche risk from a snow pit.)

Off to Taos

Today we were supposed to shoot AR-47s and rifles but the guy training us to use fire arms safely, who is part of some SWAT team, was called away on an emergency. So the day was postponed, we shopped for food for Taos camping, rented snow shoes to hike the 2 miles up to the Yurt, and (for lack of anything around to shoot) drove golf balls.

Tuesday morning we leave for Taos. Next post will be on Friday hopefully.

Day Off in Tent Rock Canyon

Three of us drove an hour north of ABQ to Tent Rock Canyon where wind and water swept through volcanic ash a few million years ago to create conical hoodoos. We hiked through a crevasse so narrow you could touch both walls at the same time and climbed up to an extraordinary view of the landscape.

Mountain Rescue Day

Today we went to the rocky foothills of the Sandia mountains for a realistic mountain rescue scenario. As a member of Strike Team 2, I was one of the first on the scene. While the technical strike team rappelled up to where one "patient" lay halfway up a rock wall, my team of two treated someone else at a lower level. We were waiting for the support team with more supplies when things went downhill - fast.

First, our patient, who was hypoglycemic, went unconscious. Then we became aware of 1, 2, 3, and finally 4 more patients higher up on the rocks. Very quickly, th rescue effort became a mass casualty situation. We climbed up and found someone who had been hit by falling rocks and had to be extricate on a backboard, tied into a basket. It took eight of us and over an hour to carry the patient down over the rocks and ice and onto level ground. It was a very educational and challenging experience.

After a long morning, Steve and I went for a run around UNM and its golf course. The group met for drinks at a microbrewery and we wound up eating fajitas at the home of Micha, one of the program coordinators.

Scenario Day

Today was a short day of scenarios involving high altitude sickness and gas embolisms from deep sea diving. We are learning to work as a team, choose a team leader, divide into rolls (airway, chest, scribe, runner, IV/Meds), using ACLS guidelines, and intubating. As often as possible, we will makeshift anything from a cervical collar to a splint, with commonly used items being superglue, duct tape, and safety pins.