Wilderness Travel and unexpected medical conditions

[red langford]

This week has been spent sitting in hospitals waiting and waiting and doing more waiting while my son gets his Appendix removed and it's made me think about the issue of appendicitis in the bush. It can be sudden and fatal if not treated right away. I do recall of hearing of those who have had their Appendix moved voluntarily as a just in case precaution, but can't remember where. Maybe it was Don Starkell's book.

So just wanted to hear others experiences and thoughts on medical conditions in the bush. Has anybody ever undergone elective procedures to prevent possible emergent situations? Does anybody travel with serious health issues that result in altering the way you travel?

 

[yellowcanoe]

I just carry a rescue beacon. Going into my eighth decade I don't do as much portaging. Arthritis. coronary artery disease a stent and cancer ( I think the latter is gone but it could come back anytime)

Otherwise ,no. I am not staying close to the hospital in case crap happens. If it does it does.

I think the secret fro long life is to live it without fear. And I do hear.. lot of fear from neighbors

"you're going on a canoe trip? Wow. that seems unsafe. By yourself? You must be nuts or brave"

the same folks that say we should not leave home in these troubled times. In three days I will be on a plane.

Back in the day wilderness travelers acknowledged that they might never return and did their trip anyway.

Hope your son does well. I remember lots of kids getting appendicitis when I was young. I don't hear much of old people getting it though they might. I do wish some things would fall off after they prove to no longer be useful but medical insurance generally won' t cover that unless there is a disease.

 

[sweeper]

My mother's 91 and still walking 3+ miles a day and spends a lot of time on the back roads of NH. One of the younger seniors questioned her about what she would do if she fell. She replied, what would I do if I didn't go?

I spent a lot of years hiking the White Mtns of NH alone, before SPOT. The worst we've had so far is a broken finger and a couple of broken toes.

No alterations, we canoe with an EMT and we carry SPOT.

Prepare, limit the Chances you have to take and have a great time.

 

[Qayaq]

I’ve spent many winters living in tents in remote locations in northern Canada and I used to think about this sometimes, especially the appendix removal thing. In the 70s and early 80s we didn’t have any communications and there would be 2 or 3 of us in camp for 3 weeks or a month between grocery flights.

One winter in northern Saskatchewan one of us froze his toes pretty bad and they started turning black so the other fellow and I were starting to plan how to do an amputation if the black started to spread past a predetermined point on his foot. The question was whether to use a knife or an axe. Dean soaked his toes every morning and night in salt water and the blackness thankfully didn’t spread to the decision point. I have no idea whether the soaking made any difference but it was the only thing we could think of doing. I’m sure the amputation would have been ugly. His toes are still just like little hard lifeless stones on the end of his feet.

Another time I stayed for a while with a trapper in his cabin, again in northern Saskatchewan, near Lake Athabasca. He told me of a trip he and his partner made on their trapline one winter. His partner got appendicitis and died on the trail so the trapper hung his body in a tree and picked it up on his way back from checking his traps. I don’t know if it was true or not but in those days there was little else a person could do. You were really on your own.

On the Seal River in northern Manitoba one winter I had to stitch up my partners knee. He was riding in the sleigh behind the skidoo I was driving and his loose axe was bouncing around in the sleigh. We hit a big drift and he landed on top of the axe with his knee and ended up with a 4 inch cut down to the bone across his kneecap. All we had was ordinary needle and thread for sewing buttons on and such so we boiled them for a while and I put several stitches in his knee. After a couple of days he was out walking again and he didn’t end up with too much problem with the knee.

I guess the worst I ever experienced personally was a case of kidney stones that I had to put up with for a week or so till I caught a flight out to Flin Flon with the grocery flight.

Lately I work mostly in the arctic and though we have great communications by satellite, often the weather won’t allow any kind of flying for several days at a time so you certainly can’t count on being able to get out in a hurry. A fellow I often work with was dismantling a camp on Banks Island and burning all the wood structures. A gas can he was holding caught fire and he got some bad burns on his hands, arms and face. Luckily the weather was good and a plane was able to make the 3 hour flight from Yellowknife the next day to get him but he was in a lot of pain.

There’s no end of bad stuff that can happen but a lot of us are willing to take the risks of being in remote places. I try to have some kind of emergency response plan in mind but circumstances often don’t have any regard for your plan.

 

[Robin]

Very interesting post Qayaq

 

[tear_knee]

I carry a Delorme InReach and a very full first aid kit and antibiotics on long trips, but wow, Qayaq, that's some gnarly stuff dude

 

[Canotrouge]

Up here, what ever you cary as communication device, you are not guaranteed a connection. That said we use a sat phone, so far the most reliable tool we have used! I've heard good things about the delorme device, same with the iridium version. We are( me and my wife) well trained in wilderness first aid, me the 40 hrs, her the first responder course, some 80hrs of training, she's an ex national life guard trainer. We both have wifi water rescue certification, and a few other thing under our belt. But it is always in the back of ones mind what could happen in the bush. I have so many friends that either died or got really injured on trips, even on day trips it can be a big deal up here! But in the end you need to keep traveling and leaving the mind boggling thoughts behind. Like you need to be aware of the bears black and Grizz but no need to worry about them, same with possible accident.

 

[Iskweo]

I have changed the way I trip a bit to account for my new lack of ability....heart issues eh. Makes me weaker. Having said that, I am currently on a rebuilding program at the gymn and that is paying off. So part of my plan is to stay in shape and be able to handle things better. I also have a good first aid kit, with excellent pain meds. I may be able to add some weed to that soon...lol. Gotta love Justin.
My ( and karins) biggest concern is my propensity for cutting myself. I am surprised she lets me anywhere near a chainsaw.

Taking your chances and living the old ways is part of why I like tripping, and that includes the perception of elevated risk. So be it. Be prepared physically and mentally with conditioning and training and then just get out there and deal with what happens. Which is usually not much.

As YC says too, being an old woman means we are not so concerned about stuff any more....ya gotta live to enjoy life.

Christy

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

Very minor by Qayaq standards but...

On a solo trip this summer I hurt my back unloading on a portage. It was a crap landing with no where to stand and I slid into the water, found myself floating between the canoe and rock face. I scrambled out, OK I thought, but the fall and the subsequent reach to grab my canoe and gear resurrected an old injury. I spent a few days in a lot of pain, barely able to load/unload the canoe at each portage and wondering whether I should push the button on the SPOT. Short of morphine I don't think any medication would have helped me through the first couple of days. I was knocking back 800mg of Ibuprofen three times a day which probably kept me mobile. In the end I altered my trip plan a bit to reduce the number of portages and also to make sure I was on lakes where a float plane could land if needed. Fortunately in WCPP I had this luxury I guess if it had been a river trip or with no other way out i may have had to hole up for a few days to rest.

This has certainly made me aware of potential issues but I don't think it will stop me from getting out there. In a way I was glad I was by myself as I din't have anyone else to worry about me. Admittedly they could have carried more of the load but, from a first aid point of view they would have been fairly helpless.

I think you just gotta get out there and try not to do dumb stuff i.e. no cliff jumping and no using the axe after a few shots of hot buttered rum...

 

[latremorej]

Wishing him a speedy recovery!

I have paddle my dad out of lows twice, once for a back injury, the second was much worse with his kidney stones. We got him out, took him to the hospital and he ended up having a blockage which required a Stent. Thankfully we did carry him out that time though... he usually is able to pass them at home. (Even the ones you can see and pick out of the toilet for later analysis).

I also have an old back injury that revisits from time to time. I do go to my Dr and he will prescribe a muscle relaxer and anti inflammatory for just on case scenarios, which I have used twice.

My buddy was splitting logs one year on the beaver river system and somehow sunk a very sharp axe into his thigh. He cut the hip strap off his pack, tied it around the boo boo, and said if the bleeding don't stop by tomorrow I'll head out! The bleeding stopped and there was no infection when we got home three days later thanks to a well stocked 1st aid kit.

We still go. Be prepared and be carefull

Jason