from PART I - EXPEDITION PLANNING
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2013
The planet earth is a sphere with a surface area of 509,600,000 square kilometers. With vast amounts of the earth's surface remote from population centers and city services, there is plenty of room for expeditions to roam. Exploring is all about discovering new things off the beaten track. When a medical emergency arises, however, the very remoteness that makes exploring so interesting can also make it dangerous or sometimes even deadly.
In days past, expedition organizers had few alternatives for mitigating medical risk. Expedition participants were chosen for their exceptional physical fitness, and usually an expedition doctor or medic with experience in expedition medicine was included, but in the end the team prayed for a little luck. There was an expectation and acceptance that exploring was an inherently dangerous undertaking that might result in serious disability or even death.
Things have changed in the twenty-first century. With advancements in medicine and telecommunications have come elevated expectations among those who wish to explore. We read almost every month about someone with a serious disease or disability taking on a challenge that daunted even the most robust individuals in decades past – amputees are summiting Everest, the blind take trips into the Amazon, and septuagenarian retirees cruise to the Antarctic on icebreakers. Extreme sports literally take athletes to new heights. If one of these modern-day explorers is hurt or falls ill, there is an expectation that a communication system will be in place to enable the delivery of medical care to that patient.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.