Basic First Aid skills
The most important elemetns of first aid to know for camping and hiking
Before we get to the actual sections, there are a few general tips and procedures that can help you avoid getting into situations where these painful, sometimes life-threatening first aid situations. Remember: The best way to deal with a problem is to avoid coming up against it in the first place.
How to avoid most wildnerness-related pain, illnesses, and medical emergencies:
- Be prepared. There is a reason this is the BSA motto. All else flows from that. If you have researched your trip plans to know what kind of conditions, animals, and weather you will be facing; have acquired the skills appropriate to handle your plans (including first aid); and have packed the 10 essentials and all appropriate gear and clothing to deal with most eventualities you are likely to face, you should be able handle anything short of a natural catastrophe.
- Layer your clothing. This allows you to remove or add layers as needed to regualte your body temperature.
- Wear synthetics or wool. COTTON KILLS. When cotton gets wet, it sucks the heat from your body, exposing you to several dangerous conditions. When performance wear or wool gets wet, you're mostly just uncomfortable—though any wet clothing still poses increased danger and will lower your body temperature, just not as much as wet cotton. (Try to change into dry clothing as soon as possible.)
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, frequently sipping it throughout the day.
- Rest often. Try not to over-exert yourself. Push yourself; strive to squeeze every bit of energy out of those legs and find the willpower to finish that steep climb—but when you do hit your limit, let someone know and we will stop, hydrate, and maybe share some of the load from your pack so you can make it to the top.
- Do not go too far beyond your skill level. Challenging yourself is important, but so is safety. One reason we do things in a group in Scouting is so that you can test your limits, only you do so under the watchful eyes of more experienced outdoorspeople.
- Keep an eye on each other. Remember, if you pay attention to the well being of the person on either side of you, suddenly everyone in the group has at least three people watching out for them (themselves and two others), rather than just one (themselves). Also, since confusion and reduced cognitive abilities are symptoms of many outdoors-related ailments and illnesses, you are never the best judge of how sick you might be. In fact, you may be your own worst enemy, convinced—in your addled state—that you are fine, or that you can just muscle through this 'weakness' when, in fact, you may be on the verge of dying. A friend can see that more clearly.
- Do not compound mistakes. When something goes wrong, STOP and fix it before moving on (that's not just "stop;" that's "S.T.O.P."). Few people die in the wilderness because they make a mistake. They die because they make ten mistakes in a row, each one making things worse.
Common wilderness first aid situations and medical conditions
Related pages
- Skills
- The 10 essentials
- The 7 survival priorities
- Leave No Trace principals
- Packing lists
- Useful links (including where to get gear)
- Troop calendar (upcoming trips)
- The trips program