2024 Summer World Congress on Mountain & Wilderness Medicine

Snowbird Landscape
2024 Summer World Congress of Mountain & Wilderness Medicine- Snowbird, UT

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More Information

In order to receive CME/FAWM credits after the conference has concluded, you must select each individual program item that you intend to participate in and ensure that it is added to your itinerary. 
When
7/28/2024 4:00 PM - 8/1/2024 2:00 PM
Mountain Daylight Time
Where
9385 S. Snowbird Center Dr. Snowbird, UT 84092 UNITED STATES
Sign in or create an account to register Registration ends 7/29/2024 1:00 PM
Mountain Daylight Time

Program

Saturday, 27 July 2024

Description
Wilderness Life Support for the Medical Professional
WLS:MP is a practical hands-on certification course originally developed at the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1997 that teaches medical professionals how to manage medical and trauma emergencies when traditional medical facilities are not readily accessible.  WLS:MP was developed to create a standard in treating injuries and illnesses in a wilderness environment. Topics include: patient assessment, treatment guidelines for life support until definitive care or evacuation is available, and techniques and guidelines for evacuation. All registrants who pass the written exam will receive the WLS:MP certification that is valid for four years.
Track
WLS: MP
When
7/27/2024 7:00 AM - 7/28/2024 6:00 PM
Spots available
26
7:00 AM

Monday, 29 July 2024

Description
Welcome
Time
7:45 AM - 8:00 AM
7:45 AM
Beyond the Limits - Mountain Medicine Pushing the Extreme
Mix personal life-changing experiences in emergency medicine with medicine science.
Time
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
8:00 AM
Challenges of Caving Expedition
Find out what it takes to be a caver. Learn how to organize a major caving expedition, the challenges, the risks, and what to do in case of an emergency.
Time
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
9:00 AM
Introduction to Dive Medicine & Hyperbarics
Overview of Dive (SCUBA) Medicine including types of dive injuries, when on the dive they occur, mechanism of injury, and treatment options. Review identification and stabilization in the field, transfer to higher level of care and role of hyperbaric/ recompression therapy.
Time
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
10:30 AM
Altitude Diving
Time
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
11:30 AM
Abstract Poster Presentations
Selected wilderness medicine research will be presented with electronic posters. Poster presentations will be judged for content and quality.
Time
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
12:30 PM
Small Group: Changes in the "Front End" of Mountain Rescue
Appraise what might make a difference in outcome and what needs further study before introduction into mountain rescue.
Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Small Group: PFO and High Altitude
Recognize the role that intracardiac and intrapulmonary shunts play in impacting exercise performance and HAPE susceptibility on ascent to high altitude, and how to manage them.
Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Small Group:Clinical Experiences, working as a Mountain Medi
Clinical Experiences, working as a Mountain Medic

The session will briefly discuss the roles and responsibilities of the expedition doctor/leader and will try to identify its scope. In addition, the lecture aims to discuss the real-life cases faced over few years which goes beyond the altitude illness and includes cases ranging from musculoskeletal injuries to resuscitation done in the wilderness.

Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Workshop: Managing Difficult Patient Packaging and
Workshop: Managing Difficult Patient Packaging and Extrication in Alpine Rescue 

 Students should review the WMS CPG’s on Spinal Protection. Students must have a helmet and gloves for rope and litter work. This workshop will focus on difficulties encountered in patient packaging and extrication in SAR. Patients are rarely found in anatomic position on a flat, clean surface, ready for your assistance. Getting a patient out of awkward positions, stabilizing injuries, securing them into a litter and evacuating over complex terrain takes teamwork and practice. This workshop will give participants ample hands-on experience in these areas.

Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
26
2:00 PM
Workshop: Medical Simulation in Mountain Rescue
Want to level up your mountain rescue teaching? Come discuss how to get the most out of your mountain medicine simulations! Join us for an interactive workshop designed to enhance your ability to plan and facilitate effective medical simulations tailored to mountain rescue scenarios. Participants will gain insights into identifying learning objectives appropriate for in-situ medical simulation, incorporating environmental challenges, and debriefing techniques to maximize learning outcomes. Get ready to elevate your simulation exercises and take your mountain rescue training to new heights!
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
28
2:00 PM
Workshop: Partner and Self Rescue Techniques
Learn how to integrate standard climbing techniques into partner and self-rescue situations in single and multipitch terrain. The workshop will be on flat land near the conference center, but please bring a harness and small selection of climbing equipment if you have it available.
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
19
2:00 PM
14ers Lectures: Intro
Time
4:30 PM - 4:45 PM
4:30 PM
14ers Lecture: 1
Time
4:45 PM - 5:00 PM
4:45 PM
14ers Lecture: 2
Time
5:00 PM - 5:15 PM
5:00 PM
14ers Lecture: 3
Time
5:15 PM - 5:30 PM
5:15 PM
14ers Lecture: 4
Time
5:30 PM - 5:45 PM
5:30 PM
14ers Lecture: 5
Time
5:45 PM - 6:00 PM
5:45 PM
14ers Lecture: 6
Time
6:00 PM - 6:15 PM
6:00 PM
14ers Lecture: Wrap Up
Time
6:15 PM - 6:30 PM
6:15 PM

Tuesday, 30 July 2024

Description
High Altitude Medicine
A lot is known about individuals with somatic disorders going to high altitude. In the light of increasing prevalences of mental disorders in the general population, this talk will focus on mental health during high altitude exposure. Research and practical aspects for the field will be covered.
Time
8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
8:00 AM
The Athlete at Altitude/Limits to Exercise at Altitude
The presenters will discuss the challenges faced by athletes who compete at high altitude. The presentation will cover current understanding of the limits to athletic performance at altitude, including both physical and physiological effects of the altitude environment, and encompassing both the acute effects, and the impact of acclimatization. New data will be presented regarding the unique vulnerability of the right ventricle during prolonged endurance exercise at altitude and its importance in limiting exercise performance.
Time
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
10:30 AM
Rescue at Extreme Altitude/History & Development of DiMM
Move beyond 'everyone for themselves' to realism and safe development of rescue services.
Time
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
11:30 AM
Trivia
Conference participants will have the opportunity to test their wilderness medicine knowledge against their peers and experts in the field. Questions and factoids are drawn from conference lectures and workshops.
Time
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
12:30 PM
Small Group: Aircraft Emergencies and the Private Pilot
Learn how to analyze aircraft abnormalities and emergencies and perform the appropriate responses for general situations while airborne; Learn those situations which cause most flight fatalities across general aviation and understand how to avoid them and/or take appropriate measures to mitigate the risks.
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
2:00 PM
Small Group: Excelling Through Peer Review
Excelling Through Peer Review: Strategies for Authors and Reviewers

The importance of peer review lies in the hands of a journal readership. By understanding high quality peer review, attendees will have a greater appreciation of the efforts journal undertake to deliver high quality literature.

Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Small Group: Future of Altitude Illness Research
Symposium on the Future of Altitude Illness Research

 Active discussion identifying potential future direction of altitude illness research led by expert researchers

Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Workshop: Diving at Altitude
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
29
2:00 PM
Workshop: Logistics Strategies for Caving Rescuers
Navigating the Darkness: Logistics Strategies for Caving Rescuers

In the event of a caving emergency having a strategy is crucial. Learn how to make the most out of the resources you have available to execute a successful rescue.
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
27
2:00 PM
Workshop: Up or Down? The Basics of Technical Rope
Workshop: Up or Down? The Basics of Technical Rope Rescue

This workshop will be an opportunity to get hands on with rope systems used in SAR. Practice will include mechanical advantage systems for raising a patient in a litter on low angle terrain, litter lowering with a variety of descent control devices, and other techniques as time allows.
Time
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Spots available
20
2:00 PM

Wednesday, 31 July 2024

Description
Plan to Get Found: Personal Locator Beacons
Overview of personal locator beacon technology, current available features, and utilization.
Time
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
8:00 AM
High Altitude Medicine on Mt. Aconcagua
Learn about the operation of a large high altitude mountaineering medical service screening thousands of climbers annually and directing care for evacuations and rescues on the highest mountain in the Americas, Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (22,837 ft/6960 m)
Time
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM
8:45 AM
Psychological First Aid in Wilderness Medicine
Learn to apply the procedural steps in provision of psychological first aid in the wilderness medicine setting.
Time
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
9:30 AM
WEM Year in Review
Review of articles published in WEM in the past year, with a focus on their relevance and implications for the wilderness medicine practitioner.
Time
10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
10:45 AM
SAR Strategies in the Rest of the World
This is a panel made up of 4-5 SAR leaders from various international regions. We will have prepared topics to discuss including but not limited to: volunteer vs professional organizations, medical capabilities and practice environment, training standards, jurisdictional authorities, financial support, air assets. The panel is intended to drive discussion through audience participation.
Time
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
11:30 AM
Trivia
Conference participants will have the opportunity to test their wilderness medicine knowledge against their peers and experts in the field. Questions and factoids are drawn from conference lectures and workshops.
Time
12:30 PM - 1:00 PM
12:30 PM
Oral Research Presentations
Selected wilderness medicine research will be presented orally. Oral presentations will be judged for content and quality.
Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Small Group: Mindfulness, Compassion and Inclusion in Auster
Mindfulness, Compassion and Inclusion in Austere Medicine

Consider how a mindfulness practice can contribute to the development of compassion and thereby create the conditions for a more inclusive wilderness.
Time
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
2:00 PM
Workshop: Decisions the Lost Make
This workshop will allow the application of lost person behavior and terrain features in an interactive workshop.
Time
2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
2:00 PM
Workshop: Field Management of Hypothermic Cardiac A
Field Management of Hypothermic Cardiac Arrest

 Can you bring the patient back from the dead?
Time
2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Spots available
29
2:00 PM
Workshop: Helicopter Workshop
In this workshop, participants will learn about guidelines for assessing weather and environmental conditions conducive or hazardous to helicopter operations, recognizing medical emergencies and traumatic injuries necessitating helicopter extraction in challenging environments, and detailing procedures for requesting, preparing, and facilitating landing operations for medical helicopters.
Time
2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Spots available
28
2:00 PM
Workshop: Patient Evaluation at Altitude
A workshop with the Aconcagua Medical Service

Patient evaluation at altitude: A workshop with the Aconcagua medical service
Time
2:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Spots available
25
2:00 PM
Additional Banquet Ticket
Time
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
6:00 PM

Thursday, 01 August 2024

Description
UIAA: Women at Altitude - 1
UIAA: It’s high time for women: how female climbers have performed in the Himalaya from the first ascents to the present day.

In this lecture, Billi Bierling talks about the pioneering women in the high mountains and the important role women play in high-altitude mountaineering. A look back at history with important female mountaineers such as Wanda Rutkiewicz from Poland, the Englishwoman Lucy Walker – the first woman to climb the Matterhorn – and the Austrian extreme mountaineer Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner. An important focus of the lecture is the role of the female Sherpas, or Sherpanis, and how they have developed over the last decade. In addition, Billi’s former boss at the Himalayan Database, the late Miss Elizabeth Hawley, forms a substantial part of this talk.
Time
8:00 AM - 8:35 AM
8:00 AM
UIAA: Women at Altitude - 2
AMS/HACE and Women - what we need to know

Description: An updated review on the literature of AMS/HACE incidence for lowlander women at altitude

Does sex make a difference to HAPE susceptibility and performance?

Description: Sex-differences in HAPE

Can psychology help explain sex fidderences in mountain medicine?

Description: Although the data are very limited, there is a "suggestion" within the data that women may have a lower risk of HAPE, and of dying (by any cause), at high altitude. Without clear physiological rationale, can psychological / behavioral differences help explain?
Time
8:35 AM - 9:30 AM
8:35 AM
UIAA: Women at Altitude - 3
Cycle Control and Contraception at High Altitude

Description: Acquiring the skills to lead, teach and provide care in an expedition setting.

Pregnancy and Mountain Travel

Description: This session will cover the UIAA recommendations for pregnant women traveling to high altitude.

UIAA MedCom Recommendations: Addressing the (lay) climbing community

Description: A presentation to open people’s eyes on how to take lessons from quality mountain medicine research to produce practical and pragmatic advice to non-clinicians working and playing in the outdoors.
Time
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
9:30 AM
Oxygen Use at Extreme Altitude: Evolution Over 100 years
Learn the rich history of oxygen use at extreme altitudes, current use and future trends. What will you advise your clients?
Time
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
11:00 AM
High Altitude Case Panel
Using cases provided by both the audience and panel members - the participants will have the opportunity to participate in the discussion of treatment considerations for various altitude illness presentations. The panel will reinforce the treatment of altitude illness as well as discuss the potential diagnosis and treatment challenges that may be faced in different remote settings.
Time
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
11:45 AM