Wilderness Medical Society snowmass 2005 Page 387
A real job in the wilderness: Case studies from Yellowstone
Luanne Freer, MD, FACEP
Medical Director, Yellowstone National Park
LuanneFreer@aol.com
Most of what we know about how to practice emergency medicine and run emergency medical
systems comes from experience in large cities, where resources are readily available and in close proximity
to the emergencies that occur. Emergency medical service providers are usually professionals, dedicated to
the daily practice of their craft. Rural communities face special challenges when faced with the task of
providing emergency medical services. Resources are scarce and frequently access to them is limited by
weather, terrain, geographical distances. Providers are more often either volunteers, or, as in the national
parks, perform many other duties in addition to EMS care (e.g. law enforcement, fire fighting, etc.) Rural
providers may also spend less time practicing EMS skills and have less experience. This lecture will
discuss the challenges of emergency medical practice and our experience with upgrading and advancing a
complex rural EMS system in the first national park.
Following this presentation, participants will be able to:
-
Recognize special challenges to the practice of emergency medicine in a National Park.
-
Recognize the challenging role for medical directors in rural EMS systems.
- Assimilate innovations made in one rural EMS system into other rural communities.
