Healthline Blogs
Dr. Paul Auerbach is the world's leading outdoor health expert. His blog offers tips on outdoor safety and advice on how to handle wilderness emergencies.
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May 09 2011
How to Avoid Needing Search and Rescue
This post is a continuation of the search and rescue (SAR) advice offered by Dr. Aaron Billin in a lecture he presented at the 2010 Wilderness Medical Society annual meeting. Dr. Billin recommends that anyone heading out to the backcountry s...
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May 06 2011
Brief Introduction to Search and Rescue
Finding lost persons in the wilderness is, unfortunately, increasingly necessary as greater numbers of persons explore in the outdoors. Beyond the need to find explorers in remote environments, there is the common situation of a young child wan...
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Apr 11 2011
Rescue Essentials: The Outdoor Gear You Need
Wilderness medicine folks are often considered to be “gearheads.” That is, we love to try out new outdoor equipment, whether it is for our activities, search and rescue, or personal safety. Improvisation is important, but it’s better to have wh...
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Jan 20 2011
Book Review: Heading Outdoors Eventually Leads Within
HKFS8XPMXETYX - Heading Outdoors Eventually Leads Within is a small book written by Kathy and Craig Copeland and published through their company, hikingcamping.com. Here is a summary from the website, where the book can be purchased for $15 Can...
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Dec 20 2010
Pediatric Wilderness Emergencies
These comments are based upon a presentation given at the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009. The presentation was entitled “Pediatric Wilderness Emergencies.” It was delivered by Brian D....
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Sep 27 2008
Poison Oak Allergic Contact Dermatitis
Case Reviews in Clinical Dermatology, Volume 1 Issue 3, had an interesting discussion about certain aspects of poison oak/ivy dermatitis. The following are some of the points made by the authors, with additional comments by me:"Contact dermatitis...
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May 17 2008
Bear Spray
Pepper spray marketed to repel bears definitely has a role, but should not be completely relied upon to deter an aggressive or charging bear.
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Apr 19 2008
Blisters: The Bane of Hikers
Blisters are the bane of hikers. These clear fluid- or blood-filled vesicles have probably ended more outings than all major illnesses combined.
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Jul 17 2007
A New Water Filter
Sawyer Products, Inc. has released a new hollow fiber membrane water microfilter that will filter out bacteria, protozoa, and viruses, because it filters out particles down to the 0.2 micron size.
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Jun 05 2007
Bears on the Prowl: Avoiding Bear Attacks in the Wilderness
photo courtesy of Tim FloydA black bear walks into a doctor’s office. A Yellowstone grizzly (brown) bear mauls a park visitor. What is the common theme? According to Luanne Freer, MD, who is a world-renowned authority on wild animal behavior and ...
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