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By Nicole Ernst, PA Physician Assistant University of Colorado Children’s Hospital Patagonia Remote Medicine Expedition (P.R.M.E) is a 10 days guided expedition in the Andes Mountain Range of Patagonia, the course is directed by Dr. Martin Musi, faculty at University of Colorado School of Medicine and originally from Argentina, “This is a terrain-learning experience for [...]

Terry O’Connor, MD 16:30pm. The ranger station is still. The storm clouds are clearing. Inside, the rolling glow of embers fade in the fireplace, as outside, the amber alpenglow lights the fresh coat of snow on the mountain above. A knock on the door breaks the silence. “Hey are you a Ranger?, I just snowshoed […]

Ryan Paterson, MD DTM&H Traveling across Cambodia by foot, sleeping, hanging from a tree in a hammock and swimming in jungle rivers with massive waterfalls all while providing medical direction and support to the 40 runners running 220KM. This is Expedition Medicine.  Global-Limits runs some of the worlds most amazing, staged ultra-marathons in locations such […]

Terry O’Connor, MD Our work comes from story.  There is the obvious; the detective work of collating symptom and pattern, of differentiating disease in hopes for an accurate cure. Just pick one out of the fetid stew.  Dengue? Malaria?  Perhaps a little TB and Amebiasis? But, this is the easy task; calculated and objective. Challenge comes, not […]

Terry O’Connor Indications: The risk, benefits, and latest evidence regarding the decision to perform spinal immobilization have been reviewed previously here. For review, we generally recommend a focused spinal assessment in making the decision to perform spinal immobilization. This helps to determine if spinal precautions, such as c-collar, head-blocks and a backboard are necessary for […]

Terry O’Connor, MD Generally speaking, patient packaging is the process of securing a patient for transport.  The technique is dependent on environment, available resources, type of rescue and number of rescuers as well as extraction plan.  Below is a brief review, but if you’d like to learn more join us for for some hand on […]

Terry O’Connor Extremity Splints: Principles of Splinting Visualize the injured body part. Continually recheck the patient’s neurovascular status. Traction is indicated if the pulse is not palpable. Gentle traction involves less than 10 lbs of force. Cover open wounds with sterile dressings. Immobilize the joints above and below the injury. Padding prevents further tissue damage. […]

Terry O’Connor, MD Whether planned or unplanned, knowing how much time you have left in the day can mean the difference to making it to dinner on time or thinking about where to shelter or build a bivy for the night. Consider using this cool little trick to figure out how much time you have […]

Terry O’Connor, MD Ever wonder how much risk you’re taking with your recreational versus lifestyle choices? Check out this entertaining little reference!  

Terry O’Connor, MD What’s the Magic Cleanser for wounds? Bottom line: Turns out it’s water . .  .  and lots of it. In this  meta analysis of 11 studies, tap water, distilled water, cooled boiled water, and normal saline were evaluated. The studies included wounds in kids and adults. Wound type included lacerations (five trials), chronic […]