Wilderness First Responders and Guanacos

Hello everyone!  Sorry I've been slacking on my blogging, but I have a pretty good excuse... I was out backpacking with the Chulengos (the PY-3 NOLS students) and therefore didn't have a wifi signal.  So I've got to back track a little to catch you up to where we are at now.

As I mentioned one or two posts back we were camping at Estancia Chacabuco while the students did their Wilderness First Responder course taught by the Wilderness Medicine Institute.  Estancia Chacabuco used to be a huge ranch that raised sheep -- one of the biggest sheep ranches in all of Chilean Patagonia.  A few years ago, however, a man by the name of Doug Tompkins purchased it and some surrounding small farms to create a wildlife preserve that connects two other national parks in Chile.  It is an ongoing project, but we were privileged enough to get to spend ten days there studying first aid.  One of the coolest parts of the Chacabuco Valley are all the Guanacos that are roaming free.  Guanacos are in the "camelid" family and are related to llamas and alpacas.  A young guanaco is called a "chulengo" and is the name that the NOLS PY-3 students were given.  Since it is spring down here we saw several newborn chulengos.

 Here the students are working through a scenario where they are practicing building splints for a tibula or fibula fracture.  The students were "in class" from 8-5 pm with a one hour break for lunch, but probably half of their class time was spent outdoors doing practice scenarios like this one.   After a month of kayaking the first aid training was a welcome change of pace, and the food that was served to us by the dining facility was very good and very welcome!  Our metabolisms were still in high gear, so we appreciated the tasty Chilean food that was served.

The picture above shows Hunter getting worked on by Will, and as you can see the guanacos were also very interested in what was going on.  In a scenario like this the person who is a "patient" is supposed to act the part by moaning and yelling in pain until the medical responder begins to do proper treatment.  I think the guanacos were wondering what all the commotion was about.  In the photo on the left is Kyle receiving care from Alex and Peter. The WMI instructors put "moulage" on the patient's leg to make it look and feel more realistic.

Here is Isi working on Jimmy.  At first he was looking at the camera and smiling, so I told him that didn't look right in the picture... he needed to get back into his role.  So, here he is looking like he's really in agony.  Pretty good acting huh?  The Wilderness First Responder training teaches the students to go through some basic steps to first treat imminent life threats such as airway obstructions, lack of breathing, circulatory problems or severe bleeding etc.  Once they've stabilized the patient then they move on to treating other injuries such as a broken bone or laceration.

 Well, Sarah looks like she's hurting, so I don't know why Betsy thinks it's so funny!  The next steps after treating major life threats is to go through a "head to toe" physical exam to make note of any other injuries or physical abnormalities, then take a full set of vital signs and, if the patient is conscious, ask the S.A.M.P.LE. questions.  "SAMPLE" is an acronym that stands for Symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Pertinent Medical History, Last food and fluid intake and output, and Events leading up to the incident.  By asking all these questions the rescuer can determine if there is a illness or other cause to the medical situation.  By the end of the ten days of WFR training the students' brains were full and they were ready to get back into the wilderness and see what backpacking adventures lay ahead.  Their new first aid skills will come in handy for treating minor cuts, scrapes and blisters, but also allow them to look after one another in the event of a more serious accident or illness.  The goal in the backpacking section is that they will be able to hike on their own for a couple of days without immediate instructor supervision, so they will need these skills.

Luke and Devon are taking good care of Jack... while the guanacos watch inquisitively.