Use of the Gamow Bag by EMT-basic park rangers for treatment of high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema.
As part of an emergency medical system protocol, national park service rangers certified at the level of an emergency medical technician-basic (EMT-B) are taught to recognize and treat high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema. In Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, this is done with the assistance of physician on-line medical control as a backup. High-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema are both potentially fatal altitude illnesses that can be particularly problematic in the backcountry, where evacuation may be delayed. We report a case of high-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema occurring at moderate altitude that was successfully treated by park rangers with the Gamow Bag.
University of California, San Francisco, Fresno, USA. kfreeman@ucsfresno.edu
Kimberly
K
Freeman
Marc
M
Shalit
Geoffrey
G
Stroh
D000328:Adult; D017732:Air Ambulances; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D002140:California; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004634:Emergency Medical Technicians; D004638:Emergency Treatment / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D009051:Mountaineering; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy