100 The Mountaineer 



FIRST AID IN THE MOUNTAINS. 



Cora Smith Eaton, M. D, 



This article could more properly be written by our 

 treasurer, Dr. E. F. Stevens, who has doubtless ren- 

 dered more first aid to injured mountaineers than all 

 the other mountaineering- doctors in the state put to- 

 gether. However, as Dr. Stevens is a man of deeds 

 rather than of words, it falls to me to state the general 

 principles underlying the practice of medicine and surg- 

 ery in the mountains. 



It may be thought that the doctors and the patients 

 work under many disadvantages in camp, or on the 

 mountainside. Yet, while this is true as to conveniences, 

 the reverse is true as to essentials. The essentials for a 

 patient's recovery from accident, or illness are these: 

 Good general health, pure air and outdoor living, free- 

 dom from routine, cares of business or family, clean 

 water for drinking and bathing, and inspiring surround- 

 ings. These essentials we always have in a group of 

 mountain climbers, and when you can add plenty of good 

 food, well cooked, which we can count on in the Moun- 

 taineers' Club, the surgeon is well outfitted, even without 

 the hospital equipment so necessary in the city. 



The medical ailments most commonly brought to the 

 doctor in the mountains are headache, indigestion, diar- 

 rhoea, constipation, earache and toothache. The first 

 four are usually preventable and are worth mentioning, 

 because the "first aid" should be applied by the patient 

 himself before he becomes ill, that he may avoid the 

 illness altogether. 



Headache usually comes from prolonged exertion, 

 coupled with anxiety, as in the leader of a refractory 

 pack train over a bad trail, or in members of the official 



