Wilderness Expo 2001: educating the general public on wilderness medicine and outdoor safety

Training and certification in first responder care among mountaineering practitioners in east Africa

•

In mountaineering, within East Africa, medical care may be very far away from the emergency scenes, and hence the tier one emergency care system may be offered by the mountaineering practitioners.

•

There is limited research in the first responder care programmes in the mountaineering wilderness environments in Africa.

•

Competency in first responder care through training and certification is part of safety promotion, a factor that can offer more confidence and appeal to tourists towards participation in mountaineering activities in Africa.

Introduction

Mountaineering activities have potential risks for injuries and illnesses. Extreme weather conditions, high altitude, limited resources and accessibility to transport and definitive medical services calls for mountaineering practitioners to be well prepared through training and certification in first responder care. This is useful in cases when they have an injured climber and need to offer support in the tier-one emergency system care before accessing further care in a medical facility. The study sought to establish the first responder care training status of mountaineering practitioners and the associations of mountaineering practitioners’ first responder care training levels and gender, age, years of work experience, and designation.

Methods

The study used cross-sectional analytical research design with a purposive sample of one hundred and thirty six (136) mountaineering practitioners in East Africa. Snowball sampling procedure was used to identify the respondents since there were no records indicating the population size or specific location of these mountaineering practitioners. A self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect data on whether they were trained or not; status of their up-to-date certification; institutions where they did their training and recertification; and their training levels in first responder care, which would cover the aim of the study.

Results

Majority of mountaineering practitioners (91.2%) had received some form of training. However, 47.1% had received training in basic first aid, which did not involve mountain related components. Outdoor practitioners’ up-to-date training was dependent on their age (p = 0.005), and years of work experience (p= 0.014).

Discussion

There is need for mountaineering practitioners to have standardized minimum training in wilderness specific first responder care. The study recommends that the training and recertification should be undertaken on a regular basis by the mountaineering practitioners in East Africa.

Knowledge in pre-hospital emergency and risk management among outdoor adventure practitioners in East Africa afro-alpine mountains

INTRODUCTION

The enjoyment of nature and other benefits of outdoor activities happen amid inherent hazards. This calls for knowledge and competency in emergency and risk management. Practitioners in outdoor activities, such as mountaineering, thus need to be knowledgeable on how to manage risks and attend to emergencies in their practice. The study sought to establish the preparedness of East African mountaineering practitioners in prehospital emergency and risk management. It sought to establish their knowledge on prehospital emergency and risk management, based on their age, gender, level of education and refresher training.

METHODS

The study purposively sampled one hundred and thirty six (N = 136) outdoor adventure practitioners from the Afro-alpine mountain areas in East Africa. It was hypothesized that there would be no significant relationship between the outdoor practitioners' knowledge in prehospital emergency risk management and their age, gender, level of education, refresher training. Somers' d was used to test the hypotheses.

RESULTS

It was established that the knowledge scores of prehospital emergency and risk management for the mountaineering practitioners was low. It was also established that the knowledge scores of outdoor practitioners were not dependent on their age, gender, and work experience. However, there was a significant relationship between the outdoor adventure practitioners' knowledge scores and their highest level of education as well as refresher training.

CONCLUSIONS

The study concluded that there were gaps in the knowledge of prehospital risk management of the East African Afro-alpine mountaineering practitioners. It recommends frequent and regular training and re-certification among outdoor adventure practitioners in order to raise the knowledge in prehospital emergency risk management.