Thanks to the Exhibitors at the WMS Annual Meeting

At the Wilderness Medical Society Annual Meeting held in Snowmass, Colorado from July 24-29, 2009, there were a number of exhibitors. In thanks for their support of the WMS and because they had interesting products and services that I believe might be of interest to you, I'm going to mention a few of them here.

The first is Katabatic Consulting and Technical Services. Katabatic offers special environmnet medical consulting, in recognition of the need and desire to travel, explore and work in remote corners of the world. The company assists companies and individuals with logistics and medical equipment selections that suit the needs of any special environment. As advertised, "From a 10 day group trek in Nepal, a six month research expedition in Antarctica, or a long term oil platform project, Katabatic will assess the project logistics and recommend a safe and practical medical package for your goals. We use our experience and that of other medical and technical experts to recommend a needs-specific medical package. For existing programs, we review the medical plan, logistics and equipment and make recommmendations for improvement and implementation."

Katabatic also runs a Mountain School, teaching wilderness awareness for the 911 provider, wilderness first aid, wilderness advanced first aid, wilderness first responder, wilderness upgrade for EMTs and remote advanced life support. Katabatic Mountain School's teaching facility is located in the Pike's Peak region of southern Colorado. In addition to teaching at that location, KMS also offers on site courses at other facilities or regions to accomodate the needs of its clients.

The second mention is of Green Dot Systems, which offers the emOx emergency powered oxygen generator. This device generates oxygen by mixing two naturally occurring powders with water to generate 15 minutes worth of 99.7% pure oxygen. The oxygen is generated over a 15 minute period and during that time, the unit can deliver approximately 2 1/2 to 3 liters per minute of oxygen to the recipient. This is considered "low flow" in medical parlance, but might certainly be of value in medical situations where supplemental oxygen is advised.

The third mention is of Conterra Technical Systems as represented by Rescue Essentials. Conterra builds gear for emergency used designed with personal safety and convenience in mind. They are known for their bags, which are deployed in tactical, disaster and medical situations, including mountain rescue, emergency operations, on board aircraft, and in virtually any situation in which a bag carrying essential supplies might be necessary. The company also distributes rescue accessories, such as helmets, harnesses, carabiners, tripods, pulleys, brake racks, ascenders, rescue lights and headlamps, splints, and so forth.

The final mention is of SAM Medical Products, a longtime supporter of the WMS. They were also represented by Rescue Essentials, a distributor out of Salida, Colorado that features high-use EMS and tactical medical supplies at terrific prices. At this particular meeting, we received an update on the expanding line of hemostatic (blood-stopping) products, including Celox Trauma Gauze (flexible chitosan dressing), Celox hemostatic granules (no heat generated in use; works in hypothermic conditions; clots heparinized blood), Celox-D (absorbant hemostatic granules in dissolvable bags for temporary traumatic wound treatment), and Celox-A (applicator with Celox granules).

My sincere thanks to each of these exhibitors, and to others who have exhibited in the past and will exhibit in the future.

Tags: SAM Medical Products, Celox, Conterra, Rescue Essentials, Katabatic, emOx, Green Dot Systems,wilderness medicine, outdoor medicine, healthline