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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Mountaineering and climbing techniques in the curriculum of mountain medicine education programs: a survey of the European Courses for Mountain Medicine.

Mountain medicine education programs have been described and discussed from several perspectives. A Union Internationale des Associations Alpinistes-Internationale Kommission für Alpines Rettungswesen-International Society for Mountain Medicine (UIAA-IKAR-ISMM) label was defined and subsequently awarded to courses that comply with certain minimal requirements. These courses can award an international UIAA-IKAR-ISMM diploma to their successful candidates. The need for mountaineering training was listed in those minimal requirements, but no exact recommendations were given. A complete analysis of existing mountain medicine education programs in Europe is done, providing information about the practical mountaineering and climbing techniques taught in the different courses and, if applicable, the practical requirements and examinations to obtain the above-mentioned diploma. The analysis clearly shows the widely varying requirements for proficiency in mountaineering and climbing in European mountain medicine courses.

Curriculum↗
PubMed2005

Lightning injuries: prevention and on-site treatment in mountains and remote areas. Official guidelines of the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine and the Medical Commission of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (ICAR and UIAA MEDCOM).

Lightning is a hazard during outdoor activities, especially for hikers and mountaineers. Specific preventive measures include staying off ridges and summits, and away from single trees. If possible, stay close to a wall but keeping a distance of at least 1m away from the wall. All metal objects (carabiners, crampons, ice-axe, ski poles, etc.) should be removed and stored away safely. Lightning currents can follow wet ropes. To prevent blunt trauma the helmet should not be removed. Move as quickly as possible away from wire ropes and iron ladders. The crouch position should be adopted immediately if there is a sensation of hair "standing on end". Crackling noises or a visible glow indicate an imminent lightning strike. Rescue of lightning victims may be hazardous. Airborne helicopters can be struck by lightning with disastrous effects. It is prudent to wait until the danger of further strikes has passed. Treatment of lightning victims is based upon the ABCs - (Assessment) airway, breathing and circulation. Victims who are not breathing can often be resuscitated and should be helped first. Respiratory arrest may be prolonged, but the prognosis can be excellent if breathing is supported. Standard Advanced Life Support (ALS), if necessary, should be given at the scene.

Camping↗
PubMed2005

[Arterial oxygen saturation at high altitude. A study on unacclimatised mountaineers and mountain dwellers].

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We decided to determine how arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) diminishes with altitude in unacclimatized mountaineers and in mountain dwellers. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Pulseoximetric measurements in unacclimatized mountaineers (214 measurements in several Spanish mountains and in the Alps up to 4,164 m) and in mountain dwellers (209 measurements in several Spanish and Bolivian villages up to 4,230 m). We performed pulseoximetric measurements for three consecutive days in eight mountaineers on the summit of Aneto (3,404 m) to ascertain whether SaO2 increases or not during early acclimatization. RESULTS: Equations describing the SaO2 reduction with altitude are as follows: a) for unacclimatized mountaineers, SaO2 = 98.8183 - 0.0001.h - 0.000001.h2, b) for mountain dwellers, SaO2 = 98.2171 + 0.0012.h - 0.0000008.h2. (SaO2 in %; h: altitude in m. Lower limit of 95% confidence intervals given in the text). SaO2 of mountain dwellers is higher than that of unacclimatized mountaineers studied at the same altitude (p < 0.05 for any altitude over 1,692 m). SaO2 of mountaineers increased during early acclimatization (p < 0.05) to reach in few days the SaO2 of mountain dwellers. Unacclimatized mountaineers who spent the previous night over 2,000 m had higher SaO2 in altitude than those who slept under 2,000 m (p < 0.05). Mountaineers who performed any high-mountain activity (i.e. over 2,500 m) in the previous 12 months had higher SaO2 on the summit of Aneto than those who have never been over 2,500 m before (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: SaO2 increases during the acclimatization process. Our equations serve to calculate the SaO2 which can be considered normal for healthy people for every altitude below 4,200 m, both before and after the acclimatization process.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed2002

Acute mountain sickness in Jade Mountain climbers of Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Although there are more than 200 peaks higher than 3000 m in the Taiwan Alps, no data on the incidence of acute mountain sickness (AMS) are available. This study investigated the incidence of AMS in Jade Mountain climbers. METHODS: The study was performed at the entrance of Jade Mountain, the highest peak (3952 m) in Taiwan. A standardized form was used to collect information. All the recorders had previously been trained in the management of high altitude illness. The Lake Louise consensus was used for the diagnosis of AMS. RESULTS: There were 93 trekkers (18 females and 71 males) who were surveyed. Four records with incomplete data were excluded, leaving 89 records for analysis. The ages ranged from 20-68 yr, with an average age of 41.1 +/- 11.2 SD. All subjects had a home residence below 1 km. The most common high altitude symptoms were headaches. Some 25 trekkers (28%) [corrected] met the diagnoses of AMS. The most common site of the AMS cases feeling their worst symptoms was in the midway overnight hut, and not on the summit. The lower the O2 saturation recorded at the entrance (2659 m) of Jade Mountain, the higher the score of the Lake Louise Acute Mountain Sickness Score (LLAMSS). CONCLUSIONS: Acute mountain sickness is a common problem in Taiwan summit climbers. In our study, 28% [corrected] of the Jade Mountain trekkers met the diagnosis of AMS; however, the incidence of AMS was lower than that of other studies at similar altitudes.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed2006

The use of automated external defibrillators and public access defibrillators in the mountains: official guidelines of the international commission for mountain emergency medicine ICAR-MEDCOM.

In this article we propose guidelines for rational use of automated external defibrillators and public access defibrillators in the mountains. In cases of ventricular fibrillation and pulseless ventricular tachycardia, early defibrillation is the most effective therapy. Easy access to mountainous areas permits visitation by persons with high risks for sudden cardiac death, and medical trials show the benefit of exercising in moderate altitude. The introduction of public access defibrillators in popular areas in the mountains may lead to a reduction of fatal outcome of cardiac arrest. Public access defibrillators should be placed with priority in popular ski areas, in busy mountain huts and restaurants, at mass-participation events, and in remote but often-visited locations that do not have medical coverage. Automated external defibrillators should be available to first-responder groups and mountain-rescue teams. It is important that people know how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation and how to use public access defibrillators and automated external defibrillators.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation↗
PubMed2005

A survey of emergency medical services in mountain areas of Europe and North America: official recommendations of the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR Medcom).

Survey of on-site treatment of patients in mountain areas of 14 countries in Europe and North America (nonresponder rate 33%) to compare emergency medical services. Around 37,535 ground rescuers and 747 helicopters are ready for evacuation of casualties and patients in mountain areas. And 1316 physicians and 50,967 paramedics take part in ground and air mountain rescue operations. In Europe, 63.2% of helicopters have a physician on board, 17.8% are staffed with a paramedic, and 19% have no medically trained personnel on board. In North America, 31.6% (p < 0.001) of helicopters are staffed with a doctor, 59.3% (p < 0.001) with a paramedic, and 9.1% (p < 0.001) have no medical personnel. The percentage of on-site treatment according to the recommendations of the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) or International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) varies among all countries (p < 0.001) and is positively related to the percentage of physician-staffed helicopters (r = 0.76, p < 0.001). Paramedics in 90.9% countries are obliged to be medically trained, but physicians only need to have a standardized training in emergency medicine in 50% (p < 0.042). On-site treatment according to ILCOR or ICAR recommendations is performed more often in countries where physicians are regularly involved in mountain rescue operations. However, no conclusions can be drawn from the data as to the efficiency of treatment. The data show a lack of medical education in specific, mountain rescue-related problems. Physicians involved should undergo suitable training.

Air Ambulances↗
PubMed2003

Mountain sports and total hip arthroplasty: a case report and review of mountaineering with total hip arthroplasty.

Participation in certain sports after total hip arthroplasty (THA) is common. Some high-risk sports such as extreme endurance sports with risks of falls and fractures are often cautioned against, except when the sport was participated in preoperatively and an excellent physical condition is present postoperatively. In this article, current concepts pertaining to this issue in general and in relation to mountain sports are discussed after a description of the activities of a 69-year-old patient who received cementless bilateral THAs in 1987 and 1995 and who resumed, after each rehabilitation, his preoperative sports practice (eg, walking and high-altitude mountaineering [6000+ m]). The patient, who was experienced in alpine and high-altitude mountaineering, was able, after his first operation, to climb classic alpine peaks (4000+ m) as well as participate in difficult and strenuous climbs outside Europe (Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, and Rolwaling trekking). After the second operation and an intensive rehabilitation program, he was able to climb 2 mountains in the range of 6000+ m. With excellent physical training, a long preoperative practice of the sport, and an intensive and careful rehabilitation, patients with a THA are, under specific circumstances, able to perform mountaineering at a very high, even professional level without signs of prosthesis loosening or higher than normal wear of the bearing materials.

Aged↗
PubMed2003

Estimates of cloud water deposition at Mountain Acid Deposition Program sites in the Appalachian Mountains.

Cloud water deposition was estimated at three high-elevation sites in the Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States (Whiteface Mountain, NY; Whitetop Mountain, VA; and Clingman's Dome, TN) from 1994 through 1999 as part of the Mountain Acid Deposition Program (MADPro). This paper provides a summary of cloud water chemistry, cloud liquid water content, cloud frequency, estimates of cloud water deposition of sulfur and nitrogen species, and estimates of total deposition of sulfur and nitrogen at these sites. Other cloud studies in the Appalachians and their comparison to MADPro are also summarized. Whiteface Mountain exhibited the lowest mean and median concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen ions in cloud water, while Clingman's Dome exhibited the highest mean and median concentrations. This geographic gradient is partly an effect of the different meteorological conditions experienced at northern versus southern sites in addition to the difference in pollution content of air masses reaching the sites. All sites measured seasonal cloud water deposition rates of SO4(2-) greater than 50 kg/ha and NO3(-) rates of greater than 25 kg/ha. These high-elevation sites experienced additional deposition loading of SO4(2-) and NO3(-) on the order of 6-20 times greater compared with lower elevation Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNet) sites. Approximately 80-90% of this extra loading is from cloud deposition.

Acid Rain↗
PubMed1972

Lead aerosol baseline: concentration at White Mountain and Laguna Mountain, California.

The lead aerosol concentration at White Mountain, California, may be regarded as the present baseline concentration for atmospheric lead for the continental United States. The seasonal trend of lead aerosols at White Mountain and Laguna Mountain shows a summer maximum and a winter minimum. This is because both mountain sampling sites are well above the thermal (radiation) inversion, which normally occurs in the winter, trapping pollutants below the inversion boundary.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1990

Acute mountain sickness at intermediate altitude: military mountainous training.

A US Marine Corps Battalion Landing Team (BLT) of 638 men was deployed on a winter training exercise to an altitude of 2,065 to 2,620 m. Nine marines (1.4%) presented to the medical officers with incapacitating symptoms consistent with acute mountains sickness. Seven were treated with acetazolamide and experienced relief of their symptoms within 24 hours. The incidence of nonspecific complaints associated with acute mountain sickness at altitude was found to be significantly greater than the incidence at sea level of those same complaints in the same BLT performing a similar winter training exercise (0.16%). Blacks who had been raised in low-altitude regions were the most commonly afflicted. Prophylaxis with acetazolamide for subsequent altitude exposure can be recommended for those individuals identified as susceptible. Acute mountain sickness is not uncommon at intermediate altitudes.

Acetazolamide↗
PubMed2003

Detecting forest landscape boundary between mountain birch and evergreen coniferous forest in the northern slope of Changbai Mountain.

Boundaries between different forest types in Changbai Mountain Eastern China are results from complex interactions between forest ecosystems, topography, and geomorphology. Detecting and quantifying the transitional zones are highly important since high environmental heterogeneity and biodiversity are often found within these zones. In this study, we used GIS and multivariate statistics techniques (PCA and MSWA) to analyze data from Landsat TM satellite imageries and quantitatively determined the positions and widths of the landscape boundary between mountain birch and evergreen coniferous forests in the northern slope of Changbai Mountain. The results showed that the widths of the landscape boundary ranges from 30-50 m while using the MSWA or/and PC method. Such detected widths are consistent with field transect data that suggests a 50 m transitional zone width. The results further suggest that TM data can be used in combination with GIS and statistical techniques in determining forest landscape boundaries; MSWA is more reliable than PCA, while PCA can also be used to determine the landscape boundary when transects are properly located.

Altitude↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Life cycles of ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) from the mountain taiga and mountain forest-steppe in the Eastern Sayan].

Seasonal dynamics and demographic structure was studied in 15 dominant ground beetle species in the mountain taiga and mountain forest-steppe belts of the Eastern Sayan (Okinskoe Plateau). Life cycles of the dominant ground beetle species were classified by developmental time, seasonal dynamics, and intrapopulation groups with different reproduction timing. The strategies of carabid life cycles adapted to severe mountain conditions of the Eastern Sayan were revealed.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1987

Descriptions of incisors of known-age Cape mountain zebras, Equus zebra zebra, from the Mountain Zebra National Park.

Twelve sets of incisors of Cape mountain zebras, 9 of which were from known-age individuals ranging in age from 11 months to 19 years, from the Mountain Zebra National Park, are described and depicted to illustrate not only the eruption and replacement sequence, but also the changes with increasing age in the configuration of the occlusal surfaces and of the infudibulum. Infundibula persist in maxillary incisors longer than in mandibular incisors. Shallow infundibula were still present in the maxillary incisors of a 19-year-old mare at least 4 years later than in plains zebras, E. burchelli, from the Kruger National Park. The physiological life span of Cape mountain zebras appears to be at least 26 years.

Age Determination by Teeth↗
PubMed2005

Seasonal change in bacterial flora and biomass in mountain snow from the Tateyama Mountains, Japan, analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and real-time PCR.

The bacterial flora and biomass in mountain snow from the Tateyama Mountains, Toyama Prefecture, Japan, one of the heaviest snowfall regions in the world, were analyzed by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis followed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA quantification by real-time PCR. Samples of surface snow collected in various months during the melting season contained a psychrophilic bacterium, Cryobacterium psychrophilum, and two psychrotrophic bacteria, Variovorax paradoxus and Janthinobacterium lividum. Bacterial colonies that developed in an in situ meltwater medium at 4 degrees C were revealed to be V. paradoxus. The biomasses of C. psychrophilum, J. lividum, and V. paradoxus, as estimated by real-time PCR, showed large increases during the melting season from March to October (2.0 x 10(5)-fold, 1.5 x 10(5)-fold, and 1.0 x 10(4)-fold increases, respectively), suggesting their rapid growth in the surface snow. The biomasses of C. psychrophilum and J. lividum increased significantly from March to April, reached a maximum in August, and dropped at the end of the melting season. In contrast, the biomass of V. paradoxus did not increase as rapidly during the early melting season but continued to increase from June until October. The differences in development observed among these bacterial species suggest that their growth was promoted by different nutrients and/or environmental conditions in the snow. Since these three types of bacteria have also been reported to be present in a glacier in Antarctica and a Greenland ice core, they seem to be specialized members of the snow biota that are distributed in snow and ice environments in various parts of the world.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1983

The first documented report of mountain sickness: the China or Headache Mountain story.

This article gives the probable location within 65 km of the Big Headache Mountain where mountain sickness was first reported by Too Kin, a Chinese official, in 37-32 B.C. We believe that traveling over the western edge of the Himalayan Karakoram Range or in the Pamirs caused the major difficulties, probably when travelers crossed the Kilik Pass at an altitude of 4827 m or 15837 ft or within 60 km of this pass and at an altitude of at least 4500 m or 14750 ft. We theorize that the route Too Kin described is from Kashi, an important center in Sinkiang or Chinese Turkestan, to Kabul in Afghanistan. This particular route has two other altitude maxima; one at the Ulagh Rabat Pass in Sinkiang about 15 km west of the Muztagata peak where the elevation is 4250 m or 14000 ft, and the other at the Shandur Pass over the Hindu Kush in Pakistan where the elevation is 3734 m or 12250 ft.

Altitude Sickness↗
PubMed1971

Effects of multiple use on water quality of high-mountain watersheds: bacteriological investigations of mountain streams.

Bacteriological studies in 1968 and 1969 corroborated earlier findings that a municipal watershed which had been closed to public entry since 1917 yielded water with four to six times the coliform count found in an adjacent mountain watershed open to recreational activities. Similarly, chemical investigations showed higher concentrations of most ions in water from the closed area. Physiological differentiation of coliform and enterococcal bacteria revealed similar types of organisms in both animal droppings and stream water, with fecal coliforms accounting for as much as 70% of the coliform counts observed in the closed area in 1969. Opening of the closed drainage for limited recreation and expanded logging operations in the spring of 1970 coincided with an unexpected decrease in bacterial contamination of that stream. It is postulated that these human activities drove from the watershed a large wild animal population which had contributed substantially to the previous bacterial pollution. It would seem that the practice of closing high-mountain watersheds to public entry is questionable if governmental standards for water quality are to be met, and it also seems that the standards themselves should be reexamined.

Animal Population Groups↗
PubMed2004

Pesticides in mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) from the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA.

In 1997, pesticide concentrations were measured in mountain yellow-legged frogs (Rana muscosa) from two areas in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, USA. One area (Sixty Lakes Basin, Kings Canyon National Park) had large, apparently healthy populations of frogs. A second area (Tablelands, Sequoia National Park) once had large populations, but the species had been extirpated from this area by the early 1980s. The Tablelands is exposed directly to prevailing winds from agricultural regions to the west. When an experimental reintroduction of R. muscosa in 1994 to 1995 was deemed unsuccessful in 1997, the last 20 (reintroduced) frogs that could be found were collected from the Tablelands, and pesticide concentrations in both frog tissue and the water were measured at both the Tablelands and at reference sites at Sixty Lakes. In frog tissues, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) concentration was one to two orders of magnitude higher than the other organochlorines (46+/-20 ng/g wet wt at Tablelands and 17+/-8 Sixty Lakes). Both gamma-chlordane and trans-nonachlor were found in significantly greater concentrations in Tablelands frog tissues compared with Sixty Lakes. Organophosphate insecticides, chlorpyrifos, and diazinon were observed primarily in surface water with higher concentrations at the Tablelands sites. No contaminants were significantly higher in our Sixty Lakes samples.

Animals↗