[pct-l] First aid and prescription medications

Brick Robbins brick at brickrobbins.com
Mon Sep 3 01:08:59 CDT 2012


On Sun, Sep 2, 2012 at 2:45 PM, Bob Bankhead <wandering_bob at comcast.net> wrote:
> A word of advice: Unless you're going into the real backcountry wilderness
> (and neither the PCT nor JMT fall into this category) where help can be a
> week or more away if you're lucky, don't try to carry your own personal drug
> store "just in case".

>From my 1996 post about this
http://www.backcountry.net/arch/at/9602/msg00292.html
================

A very good reference for the health concerns of trekker's is "Trekking in
Nepal" 6th edition, by Stephen Bezruchka, MD (The Mountaineers Books
800-553-4453) Although the USA is a more benign environment than Asia, many
of the same medical concerns of trekking in Nepal apply to the through hiker.

To quote from "Trekking in Nepal"

"What follows may seem frightening to would-be trekker's who are used to the
professional medical care available in modern society. In Nepal you may be a
weeks walk, or more, from a doctor...Awareness and prevention are the keys.
But it is better to have advice available should it be needed, rather than
to disclaim any potential for illness, and to avoid liability on my part."

"If your diarrhea is accompanied by burps of rotten-egglike gas, then the
protozoan parasite Giardia lamblia may well be the cause...It generally
takes a longer time to acquire this infection than the bacterial ones,
usually two weeks, and sometimes longer, after ingesting the cysts. Stools
will often contain mucus and smell like rotten eggs or sulfur, as will
expelled gas. Trekker's presenting at clinics with diarrhea for two weeks or
longer are more likely to have Giardia. If your symptoms persist for several
days, and you are far from help, it makes sense to treat yourself
presumptively for giardiasis. Take 2 grams of tinidazole as a single dose.
The dosage may have to be repeated in 24 hours. Some trekker's have
developed Giardia neuroses, thinking that each loose stool has been caused
by this comical-looking flagellate. There are other causes of loose stools
and foul-smelling burps. For these people, taking tinidazole every few days
could be risky."

I feel that the through hiker should be as educated a possible about the
things that may happen to him (or her) on a long trek, and I am presenting
this information in that spirit. I know it goes against our current societal
wisdom, that the individual should rely on others to take care of him, but
after all, isn't self-reliance and self-responsibility part what we seek on
a long trek?

NOTE FOR THE LAWYERS AND OTHER GOVERNMENT REGULATORS: the standard
disclaimers apply. I am not a doctor, and I am not giving medical advice,
just attempting to educate and entertain. I am only providing the reader
with references to sources which he might find usefull.



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