title: From Matterhorn to Mt Everest: empowering rescuers and improving medical care in Nepal.
abstract: This article describes a private initiative in which professional Swiss rescuers, based at the foot of the Matterhorn, trained Nepalese colleagues in advanced high altitude helicopter rescue and medical care techniques. What started as a limited program focused on mountain safety has rapidly developed into a comprehensive project to improve rescue and medical care in the Mt Everest area for both foreign travelers and the local Nepalese people.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Inselspital, University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: monika.brodmannmaeder@insel.ch.
authors.forename: Monika M Brodmann
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Maeder
authors.affiliation: Nepal International Clinic, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: Buddha
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Basnyat
authors.affiliation: Division of Wilderness Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: N Stuart
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D000401:Aircraft; D000531:Altitude; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000193:education*; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D009051:Mountaineering / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009390:Nepal; D018635:Rescue Work / Q000379:methods*; D055813:Wilderness Medicine
keywords: emergency medicine; public health; rescue work; wilderness medicine