Leia and Carolina Carrico have been making headlines across the country after rescue operations found the sisters, ages 8 and 5, safe in the woods two days after they lost their way near their home in Northern California.
The Humboldt County sheriff says training through 4-H may have helped them survive in the wilderness where the sisters say they drank water from huckleberry leaves and used a rain coat for shelter.
麻豆原创 medical students have been benefiting from similar training recently thanks to 麻豆原创鈥檚 chapter of the Wilderness Medical Society, a group devoted to educating physicians, residents and medical students on health safety in the outdoors. The group holds wilderness medical challenges across the country.
The group held such an event on Feb. 23 within the wooded confines of Southeast Orlando鈥檚 Moss Park where medical students hiked a 7.5-mile trail without the aid of maps and responded to wilderness emergencies, including an alligator attack, a broken bone and an allergic reaction to a bee sting.
鈥淵ou just never know when you鈥檙e going to be faced with an emergency outdoors,鈥� says second-year 麻豆原创 medical student Brandon Marshall. 鈥淎s a physician you have to be able to think on your feet when you鈥檙e tired. That鈥檚 why we wanted to bring this event to our medical school.鈥�
鈥淎s a physician you have to be able to think on your feet when you鈥檙e tired. That鈥檚 why we wanted to bring this event to our medical school.鈥� 鈥� Brandon Marshall, 麻豆原创 medical student
Marshall participated in a similar event in the foothills of Georgia last year and came away impressed with the combination of testing participants鈥� physical endurance and medical knowledge. So he organized this year鈥檚 event.
Marshall is no stranger to grueling physical activity. He was a Greco-Roman wrestler who competed worldwide before coming to medical school. Marshall points out that Florida has more than 8,900 miles of hiking trails and 5,200 miles of bicycle trails, so there are plenty of opportunities for illness and injury to happen in the wilderness.
Students faced six of those real-life scenarios during the training while fellow students served as patients.
In one scenario, a hiker was attacked by an alligator near the edge of a lake and dragged in, suffering head trauma and a broken, bleeding arm. In another scenario, a hiker was stung by a bee, had an extreme allergic reaction and couldn鈥檛 speak to tell rescuers what was wrong.
Martin Klapheke, assistant dean for medical education, whose hobby is mountain climbing, 聽helped supervise the outdoor challenges.
鈥淵ou could see the growth in communication and teamwork as each group worked its way from medical station to station,鈥� he says. 鈥淪uch teamwork is critical in medical care today.鈥�
鈥淵ou could see the growth in communication and teamwork as each group worked its way from medical station to station.鈥� 鈥� Martin Klapheke, assistant dean for medical education
Dumas, a third-year medical student, said the Wilderness Medical Society event challenged students鈥� medical knowledge and their ability to work quickly as a team, especially in emergency situations when things can get hectic.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to verbalize loudly what鈥檚 happening and what you鈥檙e doing 鈥� telling people, 鈥業鈥檓 checking pulses,鈥� or 鈥業鈥檓 checking breathing,鈥� 鈥� he says.
Dumas says one of the most challenging scenarios involved a patient who had fallen out of a tree, breaking his pelvis and injuring his head. The patient complained of a stiff neck and spine pain.
鈥淏oth of those can be life-threatening emergencies. Which do you handle first?鈥� Dumas says. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 where the team dynamic came in. We had someone stabilizing the head, and we had somebody assessing neurologic status, and another team member checking pulses.
鈥淜nowing how to keep calm, how to assess the situation and go from there, I think is what really makes you a great physician.鈥�
