Fractures

Fractures require emergency medical attention as soon as possible. In the wilderness, the main goals are to stabilize the injury and treat any life threatening injuries while either transporting the patient, or waiting for help to arrive. The key points are:

1. Ensure that the patient's ABC's (airway, breathing, and circulation) are stable at all times.
2. Stop any bleeding and rinse any wounds with sterile water to remove potential causes of infection.
3. Watch for and treat any signs of shock.
4. Splint the broken bone to immobilize the area and prevent further injury.
   1. You can use sticks, tent poles, sleeping pads, etc. to provide rigidity.
   2. Secure the splinting material on both sides of the broken bone if possible. You can hold it in place with tape, cordage, or pieces of clothing.
   3. Monitor pulse above and below the splint to ensure that everything is secure but not too tight.
   4. Use a sling to help support arm fractures.
   5. Can minimize pain with ibuprofen or acetaminophen.

There are a lot of splinting ideas online. If you don't want to search around for your own, University of Colorado's Wilderness Medicine has some pretty good information here: https://www.coloradowm.org/blog/splinting-review/