Freedom- thanks

We are only free thanks to our veterans who paid for our freedom with their blood--
Interesting that Veterans day and the Marine Corp Birthday are one day apart-
10% VETERANS DAY MED KIT DISCOUNT IF ORDERED BY NOV 21 by a veteran.
Unfortunately some who make it home have difficulty fitting back in here at home
- More than 1 in 3 homeless persons are veterans. Tonight, approximately 131,000 veterans will sleep in cardboard boxes, alleys, under bridges, on bus shelter benches. Please help those you can.

ACAI

Carl --Have you ever heard of the ACAI Berry? It suppose to be great for weight loss. Let me know.DG
Answer I have been taking 3 to 4 oz for 16 months--over all it is healthy-one of the strong antioxidants but not a noticeable weight loss substance. There are several multi level markets but I found a lower cost yet high percentage is found in NOW brand at vitamin cottage

New Boy Scout WFA required program

A New Boy Scout of America Wilderness First Aid program was unveiled Aug 1 2009
This completely changes what courses Scout Leaders must take effective March 2010.
For detailed information and how you might be involved visit our new web site
www.WFA-BSA.com. You can get a free on line WFA lesson by logging in with your email contact for coming up dates.

Should all WFR students pass?

WMO's answer is they will Only pass if the are all practically competent! That means they must be able in written testing, practical excessive and scenario testing to give very good care. That is the care WMOs pool of instructors would want to personally receive if in need of help. So what about the student who did not study hard enough to pass a written or just makes bad decisions on a scenario final? School is practice and as such we feel it is a learning experience and mistakes can be remedied in school. The student is given topics to review from their class work and write essays on that are discussed with an instructor and polished until well done. This year we had 8 out of hundreds who were not proficient at class end. often this is because the student does not really study which includes written work. The written work of all 8 was substandard and when reviewed clearly did not follow the guidelines given. Two of the eight were current college students who chose not to do the work as instructed and did not pass.Two were college graduates, one of whom just never turned the work in even though he was so close to passing. The other, a first primary year teacher, felt they knew it and should not have to prove and promised to bad mouth WMO if we did not pass her- we did not pass her. Of the four of eight that started their work two were the least school educated and worked most on it. One of them, barely a high school grad worked and worked until he actually not only learned data but showed in his essays [16 pages]practical use of it. He earned the certificate and was awarded it with my congratulations.
WMO wants all to pass and our instructors work hard to make that happen but the student must do the work and walk the walk on their own as they will be in the emergency on their own.

NEW Wilderness First Aid 16 hr industry standards.

Today, Nov 02 marks a cooperative work smoothly done in the Wilderness Medicine community. This was done from start to finish over 90 days. It appears to be a easily modified living document compared to the Boy Scouts 16 hr WFA which states no change till 2014. Tod Schimelpfenig did the hard work of collecting ideas and coordinating this new standard of "Minimum Guidelines and Scope of Practice" for Wilderness First Aid (WFA). This consensus document involving seven leading wilderness teaching schools shows our willing to promote industry standards. WMO is pleased to be not just one of the seven but to have contributed actual lines of content to this project. This is the third of this type of industry project for me wnd WMO. The first two were: the 1999 Wilderness Medicine Society [WMS] minimum WFR 68 hour standards and the WMS Wilderness first Aid teaching program turned over to National Safety Council now run by Emergency Care and Safety Institute. You may read this new minimum standard on WMO s web site under classes/ 16 hr WFA SOP.(PDF file, requires Adobe Acrobat Reader). The link is http://media.wildernessmedicine.com/WFA-SOP-Nov02.pdf.

Passing of a great gentleman- Doctor Charlie Houston

Today I was saddened to learn of the passing of a great man. I was privileged to have contact with Doctor Charlie. He was a gentleman of the old school and one of the finest kind considerate humans I have known. Ironically I have a book waiting for his signature, something he often did for me with great courtesy. One year he sent a journal from his Banff conference unasked for on my part. When his 5th edition going higher book camp out I once again called him and he graciously spent a lot of time on the phone talking about teaching high altitude with me. I told him that I thought he had written the most amazing book and he proceeded in real modesty to tell me, no it was me teaching the altitude knowledge to students that was more important. This past July at the WMS meeting I talked about him to another Wilderness Medicine Gentleman Doctor, Blair Erb [about Doctor Charlie] and I asked Him why he thought He was such a gentleman of great kindness, Blair said he thought it was a because he had lived through so many hard times in the world that he saw the correct way to live. Blair in my opinion is in the same fine vain as Doctor Charlie. Both of them reminds me of both Sir Edmond Hillary and Warren Bowman [the great ski instructor Doc- what a writer] who I was also fortunate to have been with on several occasions. These Men are precious but passing national, nay world treasures. Doc Charlie was one of the finest-30-

last 90 days

Just back from teaching a hunting guide course in the Rahaw Wilderness west of Ft Collins, Colorado -- saw moose and deer even though it is archery season. The colors in the Laramie river valley were just starting to turn. Stayed at a great guest ranch and enjoyed the weather. Took the long way with 80C back to Ft Collins- gorgeous!

We have been over busy here at WMO as I have taught 12 classes my self with other of WMO staff over the last 90 days.
Up coming WFR classes are Golden Colo OCT tue and thur evenings and Eastern Penn 9 days in two sessions Jan 2010

Just got a email of a life saved with emergency EPI delivery using the "Carl-WMO McGyvered" system the short version follows-Kudos to the sharp Navy Captain:

My patient was a 29 y/o adventure racer with bee sting allergies nearly ¾ through the event. He was in a two man team and within a mile of base but in thick terrain. He sustained multiple bee stings. His running mate arrived at base describing his buddy as having difficulty breathing, appearing pale/blue, diaphortic, and with urticaria. The patient didn't have his epipen with him. (A lesson he learned well after my debrief with him-always have your epipen)

First dose of epipen and prior treatment dramatically improved his situation with pulse ox 94, RR down from mid 20's to 14, and improved color. He continued to improve while we prepped for scoop and swoop to get back to our First aid station Enroute by stretcher, he started to experience recrudescence of SOB with expanding urticaria. I McGyvered the second dose as you had instructed. On arrival to base he had resolved his urticaria except for presence of mild erythema at the wheal sites. RR was 12, 98% sat on room air, no audible wheezing, and overall a happy ending. I attribute this excellent outcome to the information acquired during the "Anaphylaxis in the Back Country" lecture [by Carl Weil] and would recommend this course highly to anyone.

CAPT R. J. MC USN

Carl Comment after speaking with good friend JR
We teach for the above life saving opportunity and we forget that these occur when we have a student who complains about the test score they did not like.