Wilderness Medicine
I have had a lifelong passion for the outdoors and enjoy the sights, sounds, and scents of nature. Favorite free time activities have centered around hiking, backpack-ing, skiing, and kayaking. Because my husband is a member and I loved to ski, I joined the National Ski Patrol (NSP) soon after we married and immersed myself in learning new emergency care skills and improvised techniques in the winter environment. NSP training introduced ways of working outdoors and caring for people in austere settings that were not taught in nursing school. It strengthened my outdoor survival skills, but there was still so much to learn about managing the risks inherent in the outdoor world such as poisonous plants and animals, mosquito and tick-borne diseases, lightning, heat and cold injuries, and wild animal bites to name a few. Because my pastimes involved activities in wilderness settings, knowing how to take care of myself and others provided strong motivation to learn more.
I discovered the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) by attending a wilderness medicine conference in New Mexico with my husband.The conference offered content that matched our outdoor interests. We met like-minded people, including nurses, doctors, EMS providers, and outdoor enthusiasts from all walks of life. We began a formal course of study in a well-defined wilderness education curriculum toward earning our Fellowships in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine (FAWM), which we achieved in 2010. We also formed lasting friendships and realized new opportunities to get involved in wilderness pursuits.
I found a way to blend my nursing experience with my passion for the outdoor world through wilderness nursing. Over the years, I have used that outdoor knowledge and skill as a longstanding member of the NSP and by providing medical team coverage in marathons and adventure races, as well as during chance encounters with people who became sick or injured off the beaten path. I have also taught wilderness medicine content in a wide variety of venues, written articles, and book chap-ters, and participated in national clinical practice guideline development through the WMS.
Wilderness nursing is a rich and rewarding part of my career. Whether it is joining a ski patrol, working as a nurse in an austere setting, being a medical team member for an expedition or adventure pursuit, or just learning outdoor life skills, wilderness nursing offers a new way to see and experience the world. In that spirit, this issue of Nursing2024 offers content that can serve as building blocks to a foundation in wilderness nursing and adventure.
Happy trails!