Wilderness Medicine and Related Organizations

The Wilderness Medical Society

The purpose of the Wilderness Medical Society is to encourage, foster, support or conduct activities or programs concerned with life sciences, that can improve the scientific knowledge of the membership and the general public in matters related to wilderness environments and human activities in these environments. The mission of the Wilderness Medical Society is to establish an organization composed of qualified physicians, allied health specialists and other qualified individuals that will concern itself with matters related to wilderness medicine and the benefits, health, safety and medical care of the individual in the wilderness.

http://wms.org

The International Society for Mountain Medicine

The International Society for Mountain Medicine was founded in 1985, and its goals are to bring together physicians, scientists and allied professionals interested in mountain medicine, to encourage research on all aspects of mountains, mountain peoples and mountaineers and to spread scientific and practical information about mountain medicine around the world.

http://www.ismmed.org

The American Alpine Club

The American Alpine Club was founded in 1902 and is the leading national organization in the United States devoted to mountaineering, climbing, and the multitude of issues facing climbers. The AAC emphasizes adventure, scientific research and education.

http://www.americanalpineclub.org

Everest Base Camp Clinic

The first-ever Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic is a pilot project of the Himalayan Rescue Association set to run through Everest's 50th anniversary spring climbing season, April 1-May 31st 2003.  Dr. Luanne Freer will head the altitude-experienced medical staff, which will treat all climbers/support staff at Everest Base Camp, and will treat trekkers visiting base camp as well.  The clinic will allow climbers and trekkers to pursue their missions and leave their health care needs to the professionals.

http://www.basecampmd.com/

Wilderness Medicine Courses and Instruction

AWLS

The Advanced Wilderness Life Support certification course was originally developed at the University of Utah School of Medicine, AWLS has grown significantly since its creation in 1997.  The increasing demand for certification resulted in the creation of a new organization to promote the responsible growth of the AWLS program. AWLS certification is available to anyone with a medical degree or certification including: MD, DO, RN, DDS, DPM, PA, EMT and Paramedics.

http://www.awls.org/index.htm

MedicalOfficer.Net, Ltd.

MedicalOfficer.Net, Ltd. specializes in wilderness and marine medicine courses for commercial and recreational interests. Programs include Wilderness First Responder, Wilderness EMT, and Wilderness Advanced Life Support. Marine courses include Offshore Emergency Medicine and
custom courses to train sailors in the use of an offshore medical kit.

 http://www.medicalofficer.net

MedWar 

MedWAR is short for Medical Wilderness Adventure Race, a unique event that combines medical challenges with wilderness racing. The race was developed in the spirit of events such as the EcoChallenge, the ultimate wilderness race and the popular TV show Survivor, which puts participants into creative wilderness challenge situations. The race was also developed as a tool for teaching and testing the knowledge, skills and techniques of wilderness medicine, and for promoting teamwork and collegiality among competitors. 

http://www.medwar.org

National Outdoors Leadership School - Wilderness Medicine Institute 

The Wilderness Medicine Institute's goal is to provide the highest quality education and information for the recognition, treatment, and prevention of wilderness emergencies.

http://www.nols.edu/wmi/index.shtml

Wilderness Medical Associates 

Wilderness Medical Associates was founded in 1978 by Peter Goth, M.D. to provide medical training and risk management for Outward Bound schools in the United States. Conventional First Aid and EMT training curricula are designed for an urban environment, and assume the availability of 911 communications and rapid ambulance transport to a hospital setting.  

http://www.wildmed.com

Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities 

Founded in 1976 as a school dedicated to teaching Wilderness and Emergency Medicine, SOLO, Stonehearth Open Learning Opportunities, is the only school of its kind offering an educational, research, and conference center to both the international outdoor rescue and emergency medical communities as well as the local rural communities of New England. 

http://www.soloschools.com

Wilderness Medicine Training Center 

The Wilderness Medicine Training Center's mission is to provide practical hands-on instruction to guides, instructors, trip leaders, and the general public. Our goal is to prepare our graduates to successfully handle the most common wilderness emergencies, accidents, and illnesses.  

http://www.wildmedcenter.com

Wilderness Emergency Medical Services Institute

WEMSI provides medical care to patients in the specialized prehospital situations of wilderness, backcountry, and other delayed and prolonged transportation contexts such as catastrophic disasters. WEMSI also is involved in a curriculum project. The goal of the project is to produce teaching materials, and a textbook to be used to instruct persons, who are currently certified prehospital personnel (Emergency Medical Technicians, and Paramedics), in providing an appropriate level of medical care in the wild (where physicians, veterinarians, and hospitals are not readily available).  

http://www.wemsi.org

Equipment and Gear

Adventure Medical Kits 

Adventure Medical Kits dedicates itself exclusively to the production of First-Aid Kits and information materials. 

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com

Chinook Medical Gear, Inc. 

Along with our new informative website, the Chinook Staff is actively pursuing new vendor relationships that will provide you with new and inventive medical solutions for all your travel, sports, marine, high altitude and other specialized medical needs. From custom kits to high tech equipment to bulk orders, the Chinook staff is dedicated to becoming your travel medicine authority. 

http://www.chinookmed.com/index.php

Topozone

The TopoZone is the Web's center for recreational and professional topographic map users. We've worked with the USGS to create the Web's first interactive topo map of the entire United States. 

http://www.topozone.com

SummitPost 

At SummitPost, you'll find climbing info on a growing selection of mountains. This site is built by its members, so if you see a part of the site that could benefit from your knowledge, or if you have a photo to upload, you're welcome to contribute. 

http://www.summitpost.org

Climber.org 

Climber.org is an online community devoted to encouraging climbing by sustaining the internet presence of mountaineering clubs and by fostering electronic communication among mountaineers. 

http://www.climber.org