This new seminar was developed with the need for more vigorous education, medical knowledge, and rescue techniques in austere mountain environments. Silverton Medical Rescue (a merger of San Juan County EMS and SAR programs) , Silverton Avalanche School, the Mountain Medicine Institute, LLC and the University of New Mexico School of Emergency Medicine: Diploma in Mountain Medicine Program have teamed up to provide state of the art medical education, the latest in mountain medicine, alpine rescue and high end avalanche awareness and education in one seminar.

Silverton, Colorado is a very remote, mountainous environment that has experienced a significant growth in high acuity/EMS calls over the last decade, especially in the remote backcountry and wilderness. This has defined a need which brought the local EMS and SAR programs together to provide rescue and advanced medical care for the surrounding population.

Silverton Medical Rescue has been in service since 1972: first an ambulance service and now a joint service providing EMS as well as Search & Rescue to San Juan County, Colorado. Starting out as an all-volunteer EMT-Basic service, SMR gradually evolved to provide Advanced Life Support in tandem with Technical Rope, Swiftwater, and Avalanche Rescue expertise to some of the most remote and rugged terrain in the lower 48 states. San Juan County SAR, prior to joining with EMS, was one of the first SAR teams in Colorado to train for climbing and avalanche rescues. In October of 2016 SJC SAR was voted in as a member of the International Comission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR).  San Juan County has the highest mean elevation of any county in the United States. The county also has the most avalanche terrain in the U.S. and most avalanche chutes along a major highway. Silverton and San Juan County are very much like a national park in that there is year round tourism and backcountry experiences leading to some unique logistical and patient care challenges. Their hybrid EMS/SAR system meets and exceeds the definition of austere environments. Silverton Avalanche School is a division of Silverton Mountain Rescue.

The Silverton Avalanche School, located in Silverton, Colorado is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to avalanche safety education providing Professional and Recreational Avalanche Education. Courses are taught by nationally recognized and professional members of the American Avalanche Association(A3) and the Canadian Avalanche Association. Their instructors include CAIC staff, snow scientists, and a host of mountain rescue specialists. They adhere to the A3 Guidelines for Avalanche Course Curriculum. Many of the instructors present new methods at the International Snow Science Workshop(ISSW) and are active in researching the fundamentals of avalanche processes. SAS joined the International Commission for Alpine Rescue (ICAR) in 2016.

The University of New Mexico International Mountain Medicine Center is one of the premier programs for mountain emergency medicine and rescue in the world. Our faculty consists of mountain rescue paramedics, emergency medicine physicians, and mountain guides. We focus our teachings on internationally accepted and evidence based concepts, and strive to contribute to the general knowledge base of our field through research, education, and our own mountain rescue practice in New Mexico. Our internationally recognized courses equip health professionals with the knowledge and skills to adapt their medical practices to the mountains. Students leave ready to become technical and medical leaders for rescue teams around the globe.

American Medical Association Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) and Silverton Medical Rescue. The WMS is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Wilderness Medical Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 33 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) TM .
Each physician should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

All education content presented in this activity has been reviewed and validated as appropriate in keeping
with sound scientific principles.

Paramedics and EMT’s recieve Continuing Education credits approved through the State of Colorado and the State of New Mexico.

Symposium Objectives and Target Audience

Our target audience includes physicians, nurses, EMS personnel, health providers, climbers, and mountain sports enthusiasts. Participants in this symposium might be a medical provider who plans to work at a high altitude clinic or works in mountainous environments where injuries and illness are common, while plentiful resources are not. Unlike many conferences, we will engage attendees in mock-patient scenarios in outdoor mountain settings. We will also provide interactive classroom discussion and case-oriented lectures. It is our hope that the material we provide will give participants confidence in making initial treatment decisions about patients at high altitude or while in remote or wilderness environments.

After the symposium participants are expected to be able to recognize and describe, in particular, hypothermia as it pertains to avalanche victims, frostbite and field management strategies, extrication of victims as part of a rescue team or within a recreational trip, altitude illness, patient extrication and evacuation techniques, safe snow travel, and other general mountain medical concepts in avalanche hazards and mountainous environments.

Faculty Financial Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of the Wilderness Medical Society to ensure balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor.  All symposium planning committee members and faculty members participating in the International Mountain Medicine Symposium are required to disclose any real or apparent conflict of interest related to the content of their presentation.

The faculty and staff involved with this live activity have signed disclosure statements indicating they have no conflicts of interest or relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest with respect to this course content.