IN THIS ISSUE
Security
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Health
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Travel
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Current Regional Information
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From Assist America’s Case Files |
Africa |
SECURITY
HIKING SAFETY [Top Of Page]
The last few weeks of news
from around the world have unfortunately included multiple tragic
tales of hikers and travelers going awry in the wilderness: James
Kim and his family unexpectedly lost in the Oregon wilderness
after taking a wrong turn…three practiced climbers in peril
on Mt. Hood…a schoolboy in Australia separated from his
camp for days and nights. The list goes on, each instance
with a tragic end.
Hiking and camping are excellent
forms of exercise and provide wonderful opportunities to experience
nature—they rank as some of the most popular outdoor activities
in the world. However, it is important not to be lulled into
a sense of security about the safety of hiking. Remember
that unexpected things happen, and that any travel ‘off the
beaten path’ can hold peril.
There is no way to guarantee
100% safety during hiking, camping, off-roading or mountaineering
trips, but preparation, preplanning, education and common sense
can go a long way in preventing and handling emergencies. Some
safety tips from the Red Cross:
- If you have any medical
conditions, discuss your plans with your health care provider
and get approval before departing.
- Though the team of climbers
on Mt. Hood was experienced, they were not well-equipped for
a long stay and abandoned what few tools they had along their
path—a fatal oversight. Review the equipment, supplies
and skills that you'll need for your trip. Plan for various
emergencies and how you would deal with those situations. What
if you got lost, or were unexpectedly confronted by an animal?
What if someone became ill or injured? What kind of weather might
you encounter? Add to your hiking checklist the supplies you
would need to deal with these situations.
- Make sure you have the
skills you need for your camping or hiking adventure. You may
need to know how to read a compass, erect a temporary shelter
or give first aid. Get training and practice your skills in advance.
- A 51-year old hiker had
a heart attack and died this month while visiting
- It's safest to hike or
camp with at least one companion. If you'll be entering a remote
area, your group should have a minimum of four people; this way,
if one is hurt, another can stay with the victim while two go
for help. If you'll be going into an area that is unfamiliar
to you, take along someone who knows the area or at least speak
with those who do before you set out.
- Some areas require you
to have reservations or certain permits. If an area is closed,
do not go there. Find out in advance about any regulations--there
may be rules about campfires or guidelines about wildlife.
- Pack emergency signaling
devices (“Mountain Locater Units” can be available
for as low as $5 per day), and know ahead of time the location
of the nearest telephone or ranger station in case an emergency
occurs on your trip. Bring a cell phone with extra batteries,
but recognize that it may not work in many areas.
- Leave a copy of your itinerary
with a responsible person. Include such details as the make,
year, and license plate of your car, the equipment you're bringing,
the weather you've anticipated and when you plan to return.
- Learn to recognize, prevent
and treat the symptoms of hypothermia. See related article
in this newsletter issue.
- Always carry your Assist
America membership card.
What you take on your trip
will depend on where you are going and how long you plan to be
away, but any backpack should include the following:
- Candle and matches
- Cell phone
- Clothing (always bring
something warm, extra socks and rain gear)
- Compass
- First aid kit
- Food (bring extra)
- Flashlight
- Foil (to use as a cup or
signaling device)
- Hat
- Insect repellent
- Map
- Nylon filament
- Pocket knife
- Pocket mirror (to use as
a signaling device)
- Prescription glasses (an
extra pair)
- Prescription medications
for ongoing medical conditions
- Radio with batteries
- Space blanket or a piece
of plastic (to use for warmth or shelter)
- Sunglasses
- Sunscreen
- Trash bag (makes an adequate
poncho)
- Water
- Waterproof matches or matches
in a waterproof tin
- Water purification tablets
- Whistle (to scare off animals
or to use as a signaling device)
Always allow for bad weather
and for the possibility that you may be forced to spend a night
outdoors unexpectedly. It's a good idea to assemble a separate "survival
pack" for each hiker to have at all times. In a small waterproof
container, place a pocket knife, compass, whistle, space blanket,
nylon filament, water purification tablets, matches and candle.
With these items, the chances of being able to survive in the wild
are greatly improved.
CELL PHONES ON ICE [Top
Of Page]
ICE for your cell phone. It’s
not the latest gadget or a cleverly named new handset model.
ICE is a concept introduced
by a British paramedic seeking to ease the process of communicating
with the emergency contact for any person under urgent care. The
gist of the movement is for all cell phone users to program the
letters I-C-E, which stands for “in case of emergency,” into
their handsets and complete the entry with the name and contact
information of who should be called if something happens to the
owner of the phone.
This gives paramedics almost
instant access to potentially life-saving information about the
person’s identity, medical history and allergies, and also
allows family and friends to know right away if something has gone
wrong with their loved one.
The ICE concept really took
off in
A
report circulating on the internet that programming ICE into a
cell phone will result in charges or virus downloads has been debunked
as a hoax.
ACEP recommends using ICE
in conjunction with traditional methods such as emergency contact
wallet cards like those available from the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security, http://www.ready.gov/america/_downloads/familyemergencyplan.pdf.
HEALTH
WINTER WOES:
HYPOTHERMIA [Top Of Page]
Note:
The information contained in this article is not intended as a substitute
for professional medical advice or treatment.
Remember that you do not have to be stranded on a mountainside to get
frostbite or hypothermia, you could be shoveling snow or sitting
at the local football game. Hypothermia occurs when your
body temperature reaches 95 degrees Fahrenheit or below. For
each additional degree of temperature loss below 95 degrees,
the brain loses about 4 percent of its processing power. A
person’s life is considered threatened below 90 degrees,
and the very old, very young and the infirm are particularly
susceptible.
The impaired
judgment of a hypothermic mind can also result in injuries and
missteps that often translate into serious emergencies. And
the longer a person stays exposed to the elements, the worse the
hypothermia becomes, and the more the situation declines into a
dire cycle.
Guard yourself
and your loved ones from potentially serious health repercussions
by becoming educated about the warning signs and treatments for
hypothermia.
Avoid Hypothermia
Prevention
is the best cure.
• Limit
exposure to cold and go indoors if you have any doubt about feeling
too chilled.
• Eat plenty of food and stay as active as possible outdoors.
• Be careful of things that restrict circulation such as
smoking, caffeine, tight clothing and fatigue.
• Ask your doctor if the medication you are taking can affect
your circulation.
• Limit alcohol intake. Alcohol affects your circulation
and ability to feel "cold."
• Dress in multiple layers of clothing to trap warm air
between layers.
• Wear a hat to help maintain body heat.
Mild Hypothermia
A person with
mild hypothermia feels chilled and may develop goose bumps, a slight
lack of coordination in the fingers, mild shivering and slight
mental impairment. Fingers and toes may be slightly numb
or have the ‘pins and needles’ sensation of frostbite. If
you or a companion experience mild hypothermia, you should:
• Get
out of the cold, wet or wind, preferably indoors. If a building
is not available, go into a tent, a cave or under an overhang.
• Dry off and replace wet clothing with dry.
• Put on a dry hat to reserve body heat.
• Cover the neck with something dry.
• Drink a warm (not hot) beverage, preferably sweetened
with sugar for extra energy to rewarm, and eat carbohydrate-rich foods. Choose
fluids (even cold ones) over solids.
• Move around to generate heat and jump-start circulation.
• Insulate from the ground and the surrounding cold by lying
in a sleeping bag, on a pad or in lots of dry blankets.
Moderate Hypothermia
A person with
moderate hypothermia may display some mild hypothermia symptoms,
accompanied by severe muscular coordination problems (inability
to use hands, stumbling, falling), violent and uncontrollable shivering,
impaired judgment/confusion, slurred speech and irritability. Frostbite
may progress so that extremities turn pale or white. If this
is the case, follow all the directions for treating mild hypothermia,
but also:
• Place
bottles filled with hot water and/or chemical heat packs wrapped
in socks or another dry insulator inside the sleeping bag (or blankets)
and against the clothing of the hypothermic person. Do not
place them against naked skin. For greatest effect, position
them in the hands, on the neck, chest, stomach or abdomen, or in
the groin.
• Build a fire near the person, taking care that it isn't
close enough to risk setting anything aflame.
• Have a non-hypothermic person lie next to the compromised
individual as an extra source of heat. Pile as many insulating
layers as possible on top, especially in areas where heat might be
prone to escape.
• Monitor closely for changes in level of consciousness:
A worsening condition may indicate severe hypothermia.
• Do not intake or administer alcohol, caffeine or nicotine.
• Treat frostbite by removing restrictive clothing and warming
the affected part with your hands, in your lap or in the person's armpit.
Do not rub frostbitten areas or apply direct heat. Place the affected
part in warm water (104 F/ 40 C). Dry carefully and apply a dressing
of dry gauze bandage. Raise and support the affected area to reduce
swelling.
Severe Hypothermia
A person with
severe hypothermia may cease shivering entirely, have an almost
complete lack of muscular coordination, display muscular rigidity,
lowered heart and respiratory rate, confusion, dilated pupils and
fruity breath (from incomplete metabolism of fat) and have varying
degrees of consciousness. Frostbitten areas may be blistered,
hardened or black. Special care should be taken, and medical
help sought immediately.
• Keep
the victim immobilized, in a horizontal flat position. Even
a slight jolt of movement may cause cardiac arrest, especially
in the elderly. Be extremely gentle when changing the person’s
clothing or handling hot water bottles and blankets near them. If
the person becomes unconscious, check breathing and pulse.
• Build a "hypothermia wrap" by placing dry clothing
over all exposed parts except the mouth and nose, and wrap a vapor
barrier - a tent fly, plastic garbage bags, anything that will minimize
the escape of heat - around the person.
• Be innovative in finding ways to avoid moving the hypothermic
person while making the hypothermia wrap. For example, if putting someone
in a tent, cut a hole in the floor of the tent rather than lifting
the person inside.
• Do not evacuate a severely hypothermic person by hand,
since the jolting and jarring of the journey severely risks ventricular
fibrillation. Instead, send a rescuer out to arrange a helicopter evacuation
and to consult with medical professionals about other rescue options.
• Rewarming of a severely hypothermic person must be gentle.
Overly rapid rewarming could shock the heart into ventricular fibrillation.
• If the person is not fully conscious, do not administer
food or liquids.
• A severely hypothermic person who cannot be evacuated
by air is in a sorely grave position. All you can do is as much external
rewarming as possible, and send someone out to report to and consult
with medical professionals.
Overall Tips &
Warnings
• Take
hypothermia seriously, it can and does kill. Prevention is the
best medicine.
• Hypothermia can strike in any season, especially in higher
altitudes. Keep a close eye on the weather whenever you go in the wilderness,
and adjust your plans as necessary to avoid risks.
• Be certain a hypothermic person is completely rewarmed,
rehydrated and revitalized before returning to the cold environment.
• Take the person's temperature with a low-reading thermometer.
A temperature from 98.6 degrees F down to 95 degrees indicates mild
hypothermia; from 95 degrees down to 90 indicates moderate hypothermia;
below 90 degrees indicates severe hypothermia. A thermometer
may not give an accurate indication of the true state of the internal
organs; rely more on signs and symptoms than on the thermometer's reading.
• A Japanese man recently survived for 3 weeks in the wilderness
in a state similar to hibernation. Even if a person seems dead
to you, treat for hypothermia since the abnormally weak pulse and breathing
may fool you into thinking that systems have stopped entirely when
they really are just greatly slowed. An old adage goes: "No one
is dead until warm and dead."
• Do not perform CPR, even if you think the heart has stopped.
To jolt the person in this way is to encourage ventricular fibrillation
and, almost inevitably, death.
FROM OUR FILES [Top Of
Page]
Heather*, an Assist America member, called us to
say she had been in a motor vehicle accident in
It became clear after telephone discussions with
Heather that her thought organization had been compromised, and
that she was acting impulsively and erratically. Further
review of her medication history revealed ongoing psychiatric problems. Assist
Over the course of five days, Heather contacted
us intermittently, telling us she had visited multiple hospital
emergency rooms. We found no evidence of such visits, nor
any diagnoses from them, and continued urging her to seek care
at an approved facility.
We also maintained contact with her family throughout. Eventually
she acquiesced to our recommendations. We arranged for local
ambulance transport to the hospital, where she was admitted as an in-patient
to the psychiatric ward.
Our Medical Director consulted with the treating
doctor and Heather, and all agreed that upon discharge she would
need an air ambulance with a full medical team to repatriate home
safely for further care and evaluation. Assist
*names have been changed for privacy
TRAVEL
U.S.
AIRPORTS BY THE NUMBERS [Top Of Page]
The grand tally of all types of airports in the
country is 19,820 (all types)
Busiest:
Highest: Telluride,
Largest: Denver International covers 34,000 acres, which is twice
as big as the combined campuses of all the universities in the Big
12 Conference, and could hold more than twice the size of the island
of Manhattan. It is also home to the country’s largest
runway, which is 16,000 feet long and 200 feet wide.
Most Parking: Dallas/Fort Worth airport boasts
39,988 public parking spaces.
Least Busy:
Named After a President or Celebrity:
JFK,
Reagan International,
Abraham Lincoln Capital,
Gerald Ford International,
Theodore Roosevelt Regional,
John Wayne, Orange
Bob Hope,
Louis Armstrong,
USEFUL WEB
LINKS FOR THE WORLD-WEARY TRAVELER [Top Of Page]
Detailed seat
map graphics.
In-depth seat specific comments denoting seats with limited recline,
reduced legroom, mis-aligned windows.
Color-coding to help identify superior and substandard seats.
In-seat power port locations.
Galley, lavatory, Exit Row and closet locations.
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/index.htm
Aviation consumer
protection information.
Ratings for
ease of use of automated phone systems of many companies, including
airlines, hotels, rental cars and more.
http://www.flightstats.com/go/Home/home.do
Flight status
information, airline scorecards, on-time/delay statistics.
http://www.luggageconcierge.com/
http://www.virtualbellhop.com/
http://www.luggagefree.com/
Luggage shipping
services.
Compare and contrast rental car rates
online.
Real-time traffic maps and alerts.
CURRENT REGIONAL INFORMATION
For the latest, up-to-date
information regarding key regions, click on the links below:
For detailed
information on the region or country specific data, please follow
the link to Africa.
EAST ASIA &
PACIFIC [Top Of Page]
For detailed
information on the region or country specific data, please
follow the link to East Asia &
Pacific.
EUROPE &
EURASIA [Top Of Page]
For detailed
information on the region or country specific
data, please follow the link to Europe &
Eurasia.
NEAR EAST [Top Of Page]
For detailed information
on the region or country specific
data, please follow the link to Near
East.
For detailed
information on the region or country
specific data, please follow the
link to South Asia.
WESTERN HEMISPHERE [Top Of Page]
For detailed
information on the region
or country specific data,
please follow the link
to Western Hemisphere.
For pre-trip
information: Assist
Interested in learning more
about Assist
Resources used for the Assist
America / SecurAssist Traveler Newsletter include, but are not
limited to, the following:
www.cdc.gov
www.astmh.org
www.state.gov
www.cnn.com
www.bbc.com
www.independenttraveler.com
www.usatoday.com
www.dhs.com
www.about.com
www.acep.org
www.redcross.org
www.bestlifeonline.com
iJet/Pinkerton Intelligence Services
Members of Assist America may use these sites for information,
keeping in mind that they are not endorsed by Assist America, nor
is Assist America responsible for their content. The content of
this edition of AssistAlert is for informational purposes only
and is not intended to replace further investigation, common sense,
sound judgment, and personal observations. If you are planning
travel, or are traveling in or proximate to the locations identified
in this newsletter, you are encouraged to contact SecurAssist for
additional information.
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