University of Wisconsin medical students, in the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine, participate in wilderness life support training. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – When working in a hospital or clinic, doctors have the tools and equipment they need to treat their patients. That’s not always the case when in remote or wilderness settings.
Fourth year University of Wisconsin medical students are preparing to graduate in the spring and turn their focus onto a specialty.
“I’ll be applying OBGYN next cycle, so I’m hoping, haven’t decided if I’m doing general practice yet or if I’m going to a sub specialty but I would like to practice in a community like Green Bay in a smaller hospital or perhaps in a rural area,” said student Jessica Gillespie.
But before they do that, they need to treat and save their friend, who just fell off a cliff while on a cross country skiing and camping trip.
While just a scenario, it’s an important part of training for students in the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine, or WARM program.
According to Mike Medich, with Aurora BayCare Medical Center, “The students, in their four years of medical school, they’re trained very well to take care of patients in high resource settings, hospitals, clinics, and that sort of thing. What they’re not trained in, and really what they’re not expected to be trained in, is taking care of patients in low resource settings.”
The Wilderness Life Support program, developed at Aurora BayCare Medical Center, is just part of the training these WARM students go through. This week they learned how to take ordinary items, items they may have on them in the wilderness, to treat patients and help to save their lives.
According to Jessica Gillespie, “I think my biggest takeaway is just learning how to to use things like shirts and the things you take with you. Using a shirt to either be a tourniquet or a sling or kind of what you should have on you to be most prepared.”
In situations like the scenario, minutes matter. Being able to think on their feet and outside of the box could mean the difference between life and death for the patient.
Having the opportunity to train for these scenarios gives these students the confidence they think they’ll need should they really find themselves dealing with a crisis in a rural or wilderness area.
“Something they tell you in medical school is that people will often look to you as a source of knowledge and perhaps an expert even if it isn’t a field you’re going into in terms of wilderness medicine. Just being a bit more prepared and having the equipment you need and the material you need can just help any situation that you’re in,” added Gillespie.
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